


Peace and Goodwill

by BladeOfRebellion



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 70,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27923656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BladeOfRebellion/pseuds/BladeOfRebellion
Summary: The Christmas holidays should be a time of joy, but Hermione can only worry about how Harry has changed since the war with Voldemort ended. Her only wish for Christmas is to find a way to give him the peace that he has rightfully earned, even if only for the holidays.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 51
Kudos: 85





	1. Help Those in Need

December 18, 1998. The Christmas holidays were looming on everyone at Hogwarts.

It was the last night before students that wished to return home for the holiday break would leave on the Hogwarts Express. For Hermione Granger, this would be the first Christmas in years that she could spend with her parents and not have any danger lurking in the background from Voldemort – Tom Riddle, as she tried to remember to call him nowadays – and his supporters. Not to mention how lucky she was to even have parents now, having been successful during the summer at finding them in Australia and removing the memory modifications she’d placed on them. All in all, she should be overjoyed about the holidays.

She should be. But she wasn’t.

No, she couldn’t be happy. Not with all the lingering worries and concerns regarding her best friend, Harry Potter, that plagued her mind. He’d changed so much since the war ended, and definitely not all for the better. Thus, while sitting on her bed as the clock ticked closer to midnight and the rest of her Gryffindor dormmates slept soundly, she began to reminisce about the months since Riddle’s demise.

-O-

A couple of days after the Battle of Hogwarts ended, Hermione asked Harry if he would come with her to Australia while she searched for her parents. His only question had been why didn’t she ask Ron before all the other Weasleys had gone back to the Burrow, given what had occurred between Hermione and Ron during the battle. Her response was that she’d finally been able to sit down and process things the night the battle ended. Once doing so, she realized how much she regretted impulsively kissing him for a comment on house-elves that wasn’t even truly praiseworthy, and that she would never be able to let go of the fact that Ron abandoned her and Harry when times were hard during the Horcrux hunt. She then told Harry that, to sum it up, she trusted him while she wasn’t sure she could ever trust Ron again now that the war was over.

While Harry appeared grim at her statements, he still immediately agreed to help her. His reasoning, though, of it being his fault that she didn’t have parents struck a sad nerve within her. Regardless, after some quick but heavy planning, the two made the flight to Australia a few weeks after the battle, having only told Professor McGonagall the day before they left so that she would be aware in case they weren’t back in time for the new school year. Harry’s answer about returning for the next year was somewhat hesitant, sparking a flicker of concern in her mind. While Hermione wasn’t sure she fully believed him when he told her that it was just an image of Hogwarts during the battle that flashed into his mind at the time, she decided not to dwell on it and focus on their upcoming task.

She and Harry were luckier when they arrived in Australia than at any other time in their lives, having only been searching address directories at a library in Sydney for a few days before Hermione struck gold and found a dentist’s office listed under Wendell and Monica Wilkins. When they arrived there by taxi about three hours later, the time was even near closing time for the office, and thus there were no bystanders for the two of them to worry about. After some quick talking on Harry’s part, holding her parents’ attention as he talked about a fake problem he was having with his teeth, she had enough time to push down her shaky nerves and mutter the counter-spell. Then, she rushed back in front of her parents, as they held their heads like they had headaches, so they would quickly see her. And a minute later, when her parents raised their heads, looked at her with wide but happy eyes, and lunged forward to tightly hug her, she knew that Wendell and Monica Wilkins were gone, and Jack and Miranda Granger had finally returned.

After arriving at her parents’ home, her mother first cooked up a quick spaghetti dinner for the four of them to eat. Afterwards, her parents wanted to know what happened in Britain, since the last time they remembered seeing Hermione was when they agreed to her plan about getting out of the country due to the ongoings in the magical community. Hermione began telling them everything she could about what happened since the last summer, from the night she had left for Harry’s house all the way up to Voldemort’s final demise. Throughout her speech, though it wasn’t enough to be obvious to her parents, she could see Harry somewhat shrinking in on himself in her peripheral vision. Her chest grew tight at the guilt he kept carrying on his shoulders, but she carried on through the story.

When Hermione finally finished revealing everything, having gotten late into the night with all that needed to be said, her mother instantly stood from her chair before rushing over to Hermione, pulling her up, and giving her another huge hug. Her father joined a few seconds later, and the two thanked her profusely for coming back to them safe and sound.

When they all broke away, Hermione saw that Harry had moved to the corner of the kitchen, as though staying out of the way. Her mother noticed as well and, to Hermione’s surprise, walked up to Harry and gave him a hug, though only for a few seconds. Her father also went over and shook Harry’s hand, before they both thanked him for his part in ending the fight and keeping Hermione alive. The guilt in Harry’s expression was obvious to see, but Hermione was thankful that nobody brought mention to it. Then, her parents said they were turning in for the night and that they would see her and Harry in the morning.

It was after she and Harry had moved to the living room, chatting quietly on the sofa for a few minutes, when the bombshell was dropped.

-O-

Hermione was startled out of her remembrances for a moment when she felt something jump onto the bed beside her. Looking to her right, she was relieved to see that it was only Crookshanks, who was looking at her with almost a pitying expression, as though he knew of what she was pondering. She scratched his head, taking a shred of comfort from his purring. After a few seconds, Crookshanks then nuzzled her leg before lying down and curling up beside her. It made her smile for a moment, but it was just a mere distraction from the cascade of memories in her mind. And quickly enough, she picked up back where she had stopped.

-O-

“Hermione, I think I’m just going to go back to England already.”

She whipped her head to the left, looking at Harry with shock. Fighting to remain quiet so as to not disturb her parents, she cried out, “What?! Why, Harry? We only just found my mum and dad!”

He kept his gaze locked to the floor as he replied, “You deserve to have time to spend with just your parents, after all those times you missed out over these years. I’ll just be in the way if I stay.”

She implored, “But Harry, Mum and Dad said that they would see _both_ of us in the morning. They obviously don’t mind you staying. You don’t have to leave.”

He remained silent, only closing his eyes and lowering his head. Desperate for some kind of reaction, she scooted closer to him and grabbed both of his hands in her own. That at least caused him to look back at her with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

“If you don’t want to stay,” she continued with a whisper, “then I’ll go with you. We could just stay one night, and then spend a few hours with my parents tomorrow before leaving.”

This caused him to grow frustrated and slightly angry. “No, Hermione. You’ve already given up too much for me in your life. Already given up your family once because of me. You’re lucky enough to have been able to find them and bring their memories back. I don’t have any family anymore, but you still do. And I want you to take this time with them.”

She was stunned, not knowing at all what to say as tears began to build in her eyes. Her silence gave him a chance to remove his hands and stand up from the sofa. Keeping his back to her, he whispered just loud enough for her to hear, “Please, Hermione. Please don’t fight me on this.”

Using all of her willpower to keep the tears from falling, she said, “How will you even get back? We haven’t bought any plane tickets because we never knew when we might return.”

He finally turned around to look at her. “I’ll take my chances with Apparition. I was able to perform it while supporting a weak Dumbledore and brought him back to Hogsmeade after we got the fake locket. Maybe I can handle extreme distances, too, with enough focus.”

That did it. While she was able to keep from sobbing out loud, the tears finally began to fall. He was really going to leave.

She stood from the sofa, noticing that while he was trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible, his eyes were still betraying his own sadness at what was about to happen. Knowing, however, that he was stubborn enough that his mind wouldn’t be changed, she simply begged for one last request.

“Will you at least still come back to Hogwarts for the school year? I know your answer to Professor McGonagall was hesitant enough that you weren’t sure, but will you come back for me? _Please?_ ”

He didn’t answer immediately, filling her with an overwhelming turmoil. But then, after probably ten seconds of silence, he finally replied. “I promise I’ll be there if you are. I promise I’ll be waiting, for no less than an hour before the train is scheduled to leave, at the Muggle side of the entrance to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters for you to show up on the first day.”

She lunged forward and gave him the fiercest hug that she possibly could, still unable to help being afraid of the possibility that she may never see him again. His arms timidly went around her at first, before holding her just as tightly. And for a minute, they just stood there in silence.

It was Harry that finally pulled away first, and when they separated, he took a step back. Then, with a slight shake in his voice, he said, “Hermione, promise me you’ll enjoy and appreciate this time you have with your family. And… please tell your parents that I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused for them and you over the years.”

She tearfully replied, “I… I promise, Harry. And I promise I’ll be there on the first of September.”

His overall expression didn’t change, but his mouth twitched upward for an instant. Then, he took two more steps back and said, “Since I’ve got the things that I need in my mokeskin pouch,” patting his chest where the pouch was hidden under his clothes, “I’m just going to Apparate from here. You should probably cover your ears. There’s no telling how loud this might be if it works, given the distance involved.”

She nodded before saying with a trembling voice, “I’ll… I’ll see you later, Harry.”

He paused for a second before whispering just as shakily, “See you, Hermione.”

She nodded again and plugged her ears with her index fingers, feeling even more tears building in her eyes with this farewell. Harry closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. Then, with the loudest crack she’d ever heard, he was gone. And when her parents rushed into the living room a minute later, having been bewildered at the loud sound, they arrived to the sight of her on her knees, sobbing harder than they’d ever before seen from her.

The next day, it took many hours of arguing with her parents to convince them that Harry should not be blamed for leaving, as he had felt completely guilty about Hermione giving them up, and he only thought that she needed proper time with her family. She was ashamed, though, about needing to tell them of how he lost his own parents as a small child, grew up with relatives that despised him, and then lost the last links to his family in Sirius and Remus because of the war. That, combined with the apology from Harry that he wanted to give them, got her parents to finally understand Harry’s mindset about leaving, and they returned to being thankful for his part in helping her stay alive through his and her ordeals. They also said, somewhat surprising her given how vehemently they were against Harry when they first found out he was gone, that they wished he hadn’t left so quickly, so that they could try their hardest to convince him that it truly was alright if he had stayed with them.

Thanks in large part to Hermione wanting desperately to return in time to be at Hogwarts for the upcoming school year, her parents decided to return to England as soon as possible. The three ended up having to stay in Australia for about two months to make sure all business for the journey home was taken care of, but they were able to enjoy some of the time as a kind of vacation together and reconnect as a family. Hermione felt no small amount of joy at being able to finally show off lots of magic to her parents, who were amazed with her abilities and did not hesitate to say how proud they were at what she was able to accomplish.

One thing the whole family felt lucky for was that, though they obviously needed to make payments for the utilities to start those again, they were able to keep their old house since it had already been paid off during Hermione’s childhood thanks to an inheritance from Miranda’s mother when she died. And when all was said and done, Jack and Miranda were both glad to be back in familiar territory when the three arrived home around the second week of August.

For Hermione, however, the return home was quite bittersweet. Because, while she ultimately was glad to have spent the summer with her parents, it brought home the fact that she’d had no contact with Harry since the day he left Australia. She hated how she couldn’t even send him a letter for his birthday, since they never found any sort of magical community in or around the town where her parents had chosen to live and therefore had no owl postage. And with snail mail, the only address she could have even tried was Grimmauld Place, which wouldn’t work anyway given all the protections on the old house. Thus, once she’d unpacked all her things for her room, she immediately sat down and wrote out two letters to send off at the post office in Diagon Alley, one for Harry and the other for Professor McGonagall.

The letter for McGonagall was brief, simply saying that she was back in England and would be able to attend the first day of school in September.

In her letter for Harry, however, she started by telling him that she’d only just returned to England, and that she hoped everything was going well for him. She wrote how utterly sorry she was that she’d been unable to contact him at all for his birthday, not having any magical means of mail transport. Finally, she said that she missed him, that she would be at King’s Cross on the first day of September, and that she hoped things were still well enough between them that he would come.

The idea that she now couldn’t discount the possibility that he wouldn’t show up pained her very soul. Harry had been so angry when people didn’t contact him for weeks during the summer after fourth year. How would he feel after she’d gone two months without talking to him, even if her circumstances couldn’t allow it?

The days until September passed in a blur. Hermione knew that her parents were concerned about her, because there was always an undercurrent of sadness present in her. They were aware that she was missing Harry, and nothing would be able to fix her if she never saw him again. Even the letter from McGonagall, who was now the actual headmistress, that contained the Head Girl badge for her only brought a fleeting moment of joy, though it also gave her some confusion when McGonagall wrote how she believed that Hermione would be quite pleased with the choice of the Head Boy.

With just a few days before the end of the summer break, however, an owl with an unmarked letter arrived while the Granger family was having breakfast. Hermione was suspicious but didn’t detect any kind of magic at all from the mail when she checked it with her wand, so she decided to take the risk. When she opened it up, she quickly realized and told her parents exactly who the sender could be. The letter stated just one simple sentence.

_I’ll be there, Hermione._

While the statement couldn’t wash away all her fears, it gave her just enough of a flicker of hope that things may turn out alright.

When the first day of school arrived, Hermione was more anxious than ever and urged her parents to leave before nine o’clock in the morning. It would take them probably an hour to drive to King’s Cross, and Harry’s words in Australia told her that he would be waiting at the Hogwarts platform entrance by no later than ten. It annoyed her a bit when her parents both chuckled at her wishes, almost as though they knew a secret, but they did as she wanted. When they arrived, it took all her willpower to walk with her parents, rather than leaving them behind with her trunk to run to the platform entrance.

When the barrier to the platform was in sight, she froze, causing her parents to look at her in confusion until they followed her gaze and realized exactly what made her stop.

Harry was standing there, next to a cart with his school trunk.

Before Hermione could do anything, her parents each put a hand on her shoulders. Then, her mother said, “We know you’ll want time to catch up with him, so we’ll leave the two of you alone.”

When Hermione looked to her father in confusion, he just nodded and added, “Your mother’s right. We won’t get in your way here. Take care, and know that we love you.”

She gave them a small smile and said, “I love you too, Mum and Dad.”

When her parents walked away, all other thoughts left her mind as she left the cart with her trunk behind and immediately sprinted over to Harry. He only had just enough time to look up right before she crashed into him with a hug. It took a couple of seconds, but she knew he realized it was her when his arms slowly wrapped around her.

She choked out, “You came. You really came. I wasn’t completely sure if you still would after I didn’t contact you for two months, and I’m so sorry for that because we didn’t have any magical postage means in or even near the area where my parents lived in Australia, and I was so terrified that you might be furious and I would never see you again – “

“Hermione.”

He interrupted her rambling, and loosened his hold. As she pulled back to look at him, he quietly and seriously said, “I promised I would be here, waiting for you until the train would leave at eleven. I promised to come back to school if you were. I was never mad at you. And I’m not going to break a promise to you.”

As grave as his tone was, she couldn’t help but smile at his comment. She hoped this meant that things would be able to go back to normal. Well, normal without the threat of a megalomaniac hanging over their heads, at least.

Oh, how naïve she was, as she learned through the progression of the term.

On a positive note, she found out that Harry had actually been named Head Boy. Apparently, McGonagall even said there would be no refusing this honor because he had more than earned it with his leadership qualities throughout the years, even if he had been wrongfully denied a prefect position in fifth and sixth year. Seeing a genuine smile appear on his face, even for just a second, when Hermione showed him the Head Girl badge filled her with warmth.

Then, there was the surprising fact that Harry had apparently become quite studious over the summer. He said that he went back to Hogwarts and stayed there, having McGonagall’s permission to remain in the castle for the rest of the summer since she would also be staying even once all the repairs were finished. Then, he spent most of his time either studying curriculum books from past school years, figuring that it couldn’t hurt to brush up on earlier spells, or going through the library. Hermione was pleased to see him taking his studies seriously now, though there was a cold tingle in her mind when he said, “I needed to have something to do, even if it was something that I didn’t like at first.”

Finally, Harry did still hang around with her, and with both his newfound study habits and their Head duties and patrols, the two of them were spending much more time together than ever before at school.

But that was where the positivity ended.

Harry had become so brooding, almost constantly so. To her shock, he’d not only given up playing Quidditch this year but also hadn’t even once gone out to fly on days where they had no classes. The reason he gave her was that he’d had enough of almost dying to last at least three lifetimes, but Hermione felt there had to be more since he’d always loved to fly. She had obviously noticed his seriousness and guilt at times when they were planning and then going through their trip to Australia, like how he blamed himself for her losing her parents for a year, but she was worried to death about how those feelings had not only lingered but were actively growing worse to the point that he was now giving up activities he used to enjoy. No matter how many times she tried to get him to talk to her even a little about what was troubling him, he would brush it off as just worries about doing well for the school year.

Of course, at least he gave her the courtesy of allowing her to even ask.

Related to his brooding, Hermione found that Harry was also quick to lash out if he felt someone was stepping within his boundaries, though he still had enough sense to never let it get in the way of their Head duties. He always allowed others to ask academic questions, or questions about the school itself in the case of younger students. He also allowed, even if somewhat reluctantly, others to study with the two of them if so desired, since word had quickly spread about Harry’s newfound devotion to studying. That, however, was as far as he would let people go.

If anyone besides Hermione started trying to veer into personal topics, like the war, events at Hogwarts from past years, or even just how things had been for him, he would immediately shut them down. In a calm yet angry manner, he would say that he wasn’t answering any questions that weren’t related to school material, and that the person could leave if they weren’t here to learn. Even Neville, Luna, and Ginny received that kind of treatment when they ventured into such territory.

Neville and Luna at least learned after that to keep things academically related. The time with Ginny, on the other hand, had been the only time the girl spoke to them all year. She’d tried, against Hermione’s protests, to make Harry answer why he hadn’t contacted her or Ron since the battle ended, especially since she’d been waiting for him ever since they broke up at Dumbledore’s funeral. Harry quietly but viciously told the Weasley girl that she had never known him at all, and he could never be with someone who actually thought that he would be happy going out to fight in the war. He also said that he was never going to be able to forget about Ron’s abandonment of him and Hermione during the war, once he’d had time to sit and think about things after the war’s end. He ended by saying that Ron, having not returned to school for an actual seventh year, would have to bring his arse to Hogwarts himself if he wanted to hear it in person, because Harry was finished.

Ginny ran off in tears at the end of Harry’s tirade. Hermione had been too stunned to say anything, though her mind was running just enough to wonder if the reason he gave about Ron was what he actually felt or if it was because that was how _she_ felt, since it was the exact reason that she’d told Harry for only wanting him to come with her to Australia. She knew, however, that she probably wouldn’t get much of a straight answer with Harry’s new temperament.

Finally, at least once a week, Hermione would wake up at her usual morning time, always having been the first to rise in prior years, and find Harry already studying in the common room. What concerned her was how he would always have been there for at least two hours. She started asking if he was having nightmares, and he would cryptically say that it was just war memories, and that he was sure she had some of the same. While he was right about her having flashbacks to the time during the war, she’d still been able to get her normal sleep thus far, and her bad dreams were never so frequent as they seemed to be for Harry. But he would never give any more information to her when she tried asking.

Though she never slacked on her duties and still kept up with her academics, which she had to for the latter considering that Harry was actually right there to challenge her in their classes together with how much he’d applied himself since the summer, her mind was constantly plagued with her concerns about Harry. She wished she could help him, to make him happy in any way possible, but she could never get him to open up to her. And somehow, as the term kept passing and her anxieties grew deeper by the week, she never fully realized what her feelings meant until she received a response from her parents about the holiday break that was almost upon Hogwarts.

Most of their letter had been an expression of joy that she would be coming home for Christmas. They also, however, surprisingly made mention of Harry, asking how he’d been and wanting her to tell him that they hoped everything was going well. Her mother even left a teasing remark, saying that she hoped Harry and Hermione knew there were other ways to spend time together outside of books, since Hermione had mentioned to her parents in an earlier letter about how much more seriously Harry was taking his academics this year.

Somehow, that implication from her mother was when the epiphany finally hit her, the realization about why she was constantly concerned for Harry. Why she’d been so happy that he went to Australia with her, and so devastated that he left. Why she’d been so afraid of never seeing him again. And why she was utterly determined to help him any way she could.

Hermione Granger was in love with Harry Potter.

-O-

Finally coming to the end of her recollections, and trying to be as silent as possible so that neither her roommates nor Crookshanks would wake up, Hermione moved to stand up out of the bed. Yes, she was in love with Harry. Maybe she always had been, when she recalled how Harry had essentially always been by far the most important person in her life since they became friends. Well, barring a certain sixth year of school where she acted like a complete bitch to him many times all because she thought Ron was not only a guaranteed choice to try for a boyfriend but also the _only_ choice available for her. And look how well that turned out, especially since her newfound reflections made her think that she’d only tried so hard for Ron in order to get over her subconscious feelings about Harry…

Still, the revelation itself didn’t do much good right now, beyond giving her more clarity regarding her parents’ knowing laughs when she’d rushed them out of the house on the first day of school. It didn’t change the fact that Harry was obstinate in giving up any information about what pained him. She was going to have to make a choice soon as to whether she should risk their friendship to try and push Harry to open up to her. The possibility of ruining her friendship with Harry, all because of her love for him and wanting to help him, frightened her to the very core.

She tried to shake that morbid thought out of her head, as she made her way down to the Gryffindor common room as quietly as possible. She froze, however, when she stepped off the final stair.

Harry was at the table in the corner, a couple of school books strewn about as though he was studying. But she could tell that he wasn’t actually reading anything. In fact, his gaze was simply locked onto the table, as though he was staring off into space. He looked… almost broken.

After what felt like a full minute, even though he should have been able to see her out of the side of his eye, he still hadn’t noticed her at all. This was somehow more terrifying to her than anything she’d ever witnessed with Harry. He didn’t even pay attention to her as she walked up to the table.

“Harry,” she shakily whispered.

This managed to be enough to startle him, as he fearfully looked to his left to find her a step away, staring at him in concern. After a couple of deep breaths, he opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by her grabbing a chair, placing it right beside him, and sitting down. Taking his left hand in her right one, she continued speaking with a trembling voice.

“Harry. Please tell me what’s wrong, what’s been troubling you for so long. We both know how much you’ve changed since the war ended in May. You’ve become so brooding all the time. You won’t allow anyone to get close to you. You’ve almost obsessively thrown yourself into studying, and don’t even fly on your broom anymore. And I know you’re coming down here because of nightmares, which you never elaborate on. Please, Harry, I want you to be happy. I’ll do anything to help you. Just _please_ , tell me why you’re hurting so much.”

She could feel tears building up, but she was desperately trying to hold them back because she wanted to be strong for him. Whatever was going on, he needed support, and she would do whatever it took to give that to him.

Harry’s expression became utterly downcast, probably the most emotion she’d seen in him all year. He lowered his head, and then murmured so quietly that she would have missed it if she hadn’t been right beside him.

“I… I don’t know what to do, Hermione.”

A small part of her sadness was replaced with confusion. “Harry, all I’m asking is for you to talk to me. I promise that whatever you say will never go beyond the two of us.”

He looked up, with tears in his eyes and the most despondent expression she’d ever seen on him. “No, Hermione. I mean… I don’t know what to do with my life, now that Riddle is dead.”

The statement shocked her. But when she recalled what he told her when they reunited on the first day of school, how he’d taken up studying as basically a means of occupying time, it began to make sense. She’d just greatly underestimated what he meant by needing something to do.

There was only one thing she could think to say, and she was nervous that it might only make things worse. “Harry, you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to fight anymore. You can do whatever will make you happy.”

“That’s just it, Hermione,” his voice quivering with almost every word. “My entire life has been nothing but struggling and fighting. The years with the Dursleys, the dangers here at Hogwarts every year, the fickleness of the population where they call me a savior one minute and then hate me as a terrible threat the next, and then Riddle and his Death Eaters. And the job of ending Riddle was placed on my shoulders all because one old man put all of his stock in a prophecy and never prepared anyone else to take the mantle if things went terribly wrong.

"Hell, I only chose a career path as an Auror in fifth year, when we had those meetings, because I thought it was the only thing that I could do with everything surrounding Riddle. Now that the bastard is gone, what's even the point of that? It feels like the only purpose I ever had in life is complete. And that's what a lot of my nightmares have been about, and why I've thrown myself into studying so much since it gave me some busy work on which I can focus. How do I go on when I have no clue of what to do anymore?”

He started crying, and Hermione was so close to doing the same. He’d been holding these feelings in for so long that they were finally overflowing. She wanted to ask what had caused things to come to such a forefront now, when he beat her to the punch.

“I’ve known the issue for certain ever since I came back from Australia, but I was able to push it down whenever I started thinking too much about it. But the worst part finally hit me tonight, with the holidays coming up. Everyone will be going back to their families, enjoying Christmas with no danger from Riddle and his supporters. Even you’re going home. But it feels like there’s no more place for me now. No one I’ll be able to really celebrate the holidays with. And before you say the Weasleys, we both know that I torched any friendship we had with Ron and Ginny so badly that neither of us will probably ever be welcome at the Weasley house now. And even if I hadn’t, I don’t think they could ever understand my feelings anyway.”

He lowered his head again before making one final comment. “So yeah, now you know what’s been on my mind since that night in Australia, and probably since the end of the war even if I hadn’t yet realized it. I have no idea what to do about it. And I’m sorry that I’ve made you worry so much because of it.”

As Harry finally became silent, Hermione felt her own tears begin to flow. The burden of carrying the weight of the world had finally crushed him. Harry thought that he had nothing more for which to fight with the war over, and no family with which to joyfully celebrate their first Christmas in so long without danger over their heads.

That last thought, however, caused an idea to drop in her mind with the force of a wrecking ball and stop her tears. A family to celebrate with. Perhaps a family that had asked about him when they sent a letter expressing joy that their daughter would return home for Christmas…

Hermione didn’t give herself any more time to think on whether this might be a bad idea. It was something she could do to give him even just a temporary bit of happiness. Thus, she grabbed his other hand before giving his hands what she hoped was a comforting squeeze. He did finally look back up at her when she did so, and she immediately spoke her idea out loud.

“Come with me.”

His despondence was replaced by puzzlement. “Hermione, it’s the middle of the night. Where would we go?”

She frantically shook her head. “No, Harry. Tomorrow, come with me. Stay with me and my parents over the holidays.”

His eyes widened a bit with surprise. “Hermione, I… I couldn’t do that. I don’t want to intrude on time you can spend with your family.”

No, she refused to let this happen again. Looks like the time to risk by far her closest friendship had arrived.

She firmly replied, “So you would rather be miserable here for two weeks than take the chance of getting some happiness by coming with me?”

He fired right back, “If it means not making your family have to deal with all of my issues, then yes, that’s what I’ll do.”

Her first instinct was to tell him how that was absolute garbage. She knew, however, that it would just make him dig his heels in even more with that misplaced nobility of his. But she had a good argument to use in the fact that her parents had wished Harry had stayed during the summer and also asked about how he was doing in their last letter.

“Harry, do you know what my parents said to me after you left?”

Guilt and shame instantly darkened his expression. “I would imagine that they hate my guts more than anyone else in history, considering how I made you cry that night.”

“Maybe at first they did. But I… I told them about some of the things that happened to you in the war, your horrible relatives, and the people that you’ve lost in your life.” His expression began to get hard, so she spoke as quickly as she could. “I’m sorry for doing so, since I know it isn’t my place to talk about your life to someone else. It worked, though, because my parents came around and were able to understand why you thought you might be intruding on us. Mum and Dad even wished that you hadn’t left so early so they could tell you that they would have been alright with you staying.”

Harry’s anger instantly evaporated and gave way to shock. She kept talking before he could interrupt with anything, deciding to drop the surprise from her parents and hoping it would convince him to stay with her for the holidays.

“And in the letter that I received from them earlier this week about coming home for Christmas, there was one section specifically about you. Asking how you’d been, and to tell you that they hoped you were doing well. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about, if this is all about facing my parents.”

His mouth fell open with that reveal. The confusion in his face would have been adorable were it not for the circumstances. She kept quiet, allowing him to compose himself. After a minute, Harry finally spoke.

“Your parents won’t be expecting me. What if they refuse because of that?”

His comment lifted Hermione’s spirit a little bit. Not only was he finally on the hook with her idea, but she also had an easy answer for his question. She replied with a hint of teasing, “I was able to convince them to still think well of you even after they found me in tears right after you left Australia. Convincing them to let you stay with us during the holidays should be small potatoes.”

Harry lowered his head, laughing a bit at her answer. When he grew quiet after a few seconds and lifted his head, her heart fluttered at seeing a smile on his face, the first real smile she could recall since probably the first few days of the term. When it began to falter, as though he’d thought of some other reason to refuse her offer, she squeezed his hands again before making what she hoped would be her final argument.

“It’s only because of you,” she gently whispered, “that I, and everyone in Britain, can enjoy peace with our families without danger around the corner. It’s because of you that we can all live again. Please, Harry, I want to do the same for you. Please, let me help you.”

He looked down at their joined hands, and his expression grew more pensive than she’d ever seen. She remained silent, simply waiting until he made a decision. If he still wanted to be obstinate, then she was going to have to disappoint her parents, because there was zero chance that she was leaving his side after his confession. Of course, she would then have to fight with him on that point, considering how he was refusing to come with her on the basis that she should enjoy more time with her family. The path depended entirely upon him.

Another minute passed before Harry finally looked back up to her. While he still had a somewhat unhappy look in his eyes, his lips were just barely curled up in a smile. Then, he said, “Alright. You win… I’ll come.”

Her eyes went wide, and Hermione couldn’t stop the smile that grew on her face. “You mean it?”

When he nodded, she let go of his hands but then immediately leaned forward and wrapped him in a hug. After a couple of seconds, she felt his arms hold her tightly as well.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear. “I promise you won’t regret this.”

He replied just as quietly, “You’ve never let me down, Hermione. If anything, you should be the one worried about regretting this.”

She pulled back so that she could look him in the eyes. “As long as you’re on the train with me tomorrow, I could never regret it.”

He went quiet again, as though he had no idea how to react to her statement. But then, he began to gather his books from the table before pushing his chair back and standing up. Her confusion must have been obvious because he responded, “I guess I better pack my things and get some sleep, then. That way, I won’t have to worry about rushing things when I wake up.”

She felt more happiness at his declaration than she’d felt since that morning at King’s Cross. Deciding that this was the best way the night could end, and also wanting a good memory to associate with her next words, she merely told him, “I’ll see you later, Harry.”

Her hopes that he would recognize the phrasing worked, as his eyes widened just a bit in recognition. Then, he warmly replied, “See you, Hermione.” And with that, he climbed the steps to the boys’ dormitory and disappeared from sight.

Hermione sat for another few seconds before getting up and heading back to the girls’ dorm. She had an opportunity to give Harry even just a small bit of peace over the next two weeks, and she would do whatever it took to make sure he received it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by the Christmas challenge announcement posted in the HMS Harmony Discord server (if you're a Harmony fan, check it out at discord.gg/2GcXw8R). I can't guarantee, though, that the story will actually be completed before Christmas given my full-time job, since I only have 3 chapters written thus far (of which Ch. 2 and 3 aren't even proofread yet), and it looks like this story might include at least 8 chapters. But, my hope is to have it done by then, and I will certainly try my best to accomplish that.
> 
> If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and I hope you stay tuned!


	2. Season's Greetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to whrutledge for his opinion on one bit of this chapter. And now, on with the show!

The next day quickly arrived, and the Hogwarts Express was on its way back to London.

Hermione made sure to get a compartment at the very back of the train for her and Harry. That morning, since they both woke up at the same early time, she led them to breakfast as quickly as possible so they could then be one of the first ones to board the train. Beyond the meeting at the beginning of the journey where they went over a timetable of patrols for all the prefects, the two of them hadn’t left their compartment. She even, to Harry’s astonishment, was willing to do their scheduled patrol of the train by herself so that he wouldn’t have to deal with questions from the rest of the students. Her response was that she wanted to give him a quiet and peaceful trip back home. The blush that rose to his face, and his meek thank-you response, was adorable enough to warm her heart.

That’s where Hermione was now, on her way back to her and Harry’s compartment after having checked on everyone in the train, about two hours into the ride back to London. She had to politely but firmly shut down a few people that tried to pick her brain about Harry. Her response was that if Harry hadn’t seen fit to talk to them about certain things, then why would they possibly think she would ever talk about him behind his back?

She shook her head at the thought as she reached the compartment but decided it wasn’t worth dwelling on. She knocked on the door six times in quick succession, as she’d previously told Harry she would do in order for him to know it was her on the other side, before entering the compartment and locking the door behind her.

When she turned back around, she couldn’t help chuckling when she saw Crookshanks stretched out completely on the seat across from Harry, where she had previously been sitting. It was as though the cat had claimed a new bed, she thought while shaking her head with amusement, as she took a seat beside Harry.

He asked, “What’s got you laughing?”

She looked to him with a smile, nudged her head in the direction of the orange cat, and said, “Oh, just Crookshanks acting like he’s the king of the compartment over there.”

Harry smirked for an instant before he replied, “Yeah, he took your spot over there about five minutes after you left. Guess he got tired of sitting over here with me.”

“Or maybe,” she teasingly said, “he finally gave me my actual spot back.”

She saw a faint blush rise in Harry’s face before he turned to look out the compartment window and murmured, “Maybe.”

Hermione felt uneasy about his reaction. She thought she just made a light joke. Did she go too far?

After a minute of silence, she had to ask. “What’s wrong, Harry? Did I say something out of line?”

He grimaced as though in pain before turning back to her with an apologetic expression. “No, Hermione, you didn’t. It’s just…”

He trailed off and looked down, like he was afraid of her reaction to whatever he would say. Remembering how he’d opened up last night, she scooted closer to him, leaving barely any space between them, and whispered, “Tell me, please? Whatever it is you want or need to say, no matter how bad you may think it is, I won’t get mad at you. I won’t think less of you. And I won’t leave your side.”

He sighed, pulled his head back up, and locked eyes with her. He sadly replied, “That’s just it, Hermione. You’ve always been beside me, haven’t you? Even when I’m being an utter git.”

Confusion at his statement caused her mind to freeze up for a few seconds. This was enough time for him to turn his head and gaze out the window before he continued. “After you left for patrol, my mind started focusing on your statement about having a peaceful trip, and then I couldn’t help but start reminiscing about my actions over the years. Why haven’t you given up on me yet? After I always seemed to treat you as second-best to Ron even when you deserved better? And after how I’ve kept you at arm’s length since the end of the war, even if it was a hell of a lot closer than anyone else was allowed to be?”

She let silence hold for two seconds before firmly whispering, “What makes you think I would ever give up on you?”

He turned his head to face her again. “It’s what I deserve, isn’t it? After I’ve done all I can to keep people away this year. After never giving you a straight answer whenever you wanted to know what was troubling me. And especially after all the times I never appreciated in earlier years just how much you sacrificed to keep me alive. You, of all people, have every reason to treat me as a lost cause, but you haven’t. Why?”

The bafflement in that final word said everything. He truly thought he deserved to be alone. And maybe he was correct in a technical sense. She was the only person to try talking to him about anything personal, no matter how fruitless her endeavors were. Everyone else had learned long ago to either keep any questions to him related to academics or Hogwarts itself, or just avoid him altogether such as the case with Ginny. And how long could a person keep trying when the result was always the same? Logically, the route Harry was suggesting was the more sensible one given prior evidence.

But… since when were matters of the heart ever completely logical?

In fact, Hermione could feel her heart beating so hard that it seemed to be urging her to reveal her feelings at that very moment. But her mind’s resistance was still too strong and beat down the temptation. It was too soon, and he already had enough worries in his mind right now. The important thing at the moment was to give him some happiness over the next two weeks. And it appeared that her work was going to start right now.

Without removing her gaze from his, she shifted her right hand and took hold of his left. As his brow furrowed even more in confusion, she finally responded. “Do you remember that lull in the Battle of Hogwarts, when you found Ron and me after watching the memories from Snape?”

His confusion was instantly replaced by sadness. “How could I forget? You offered to go to the Forbidden Forest with me. And I refused, and begged as a last request that you stay in the castle because there was absolutely no circumstance whatsoever where I would allow you to die like that, after everyone I’d already lost.”

Hermione couldn’t help but think how, even at a time when she hadn’t realized her deeper feelings, she still gave him such importance that she listened to him at that time against all of her instincts. And she now knew how terribly she would have regretted not going with him if he had not miraculously survived. In any case, while she still wouldn’t go so far as to reveal everything, she could at least give him the idea of his importance in her life.

“I told you once that I sat down after the battle and reflected on everything, which led me to realizing how much I regretted my actions with Ron. What you don’t know, however, is the first epiphany I had which led to my thoughts on Ron.”

Seeing the question building in his expression, she answered ahead of him. “It was the realization that he was never going to be more important to me than you.” His eyes grew huge with the revelation, but she pushed ahead with her thoughts. “You’re right that I’ve been with you through a lot. The Philosopher’s Stone, the basilisk and my petrification, helping Sirius, the Triwizard Tournament, the Department of Mysteries, staying with you on the Horcrux hunt even when everything seemed hopeless. Giving up my family, with no guarantee that they would ever return, to fight beside you. Harry, I offered to _die_ with you even after having kissed Ron not long beforehand. What makes you think _anyone_ else could be more important than you?”

Harry was astonished at the final sentence, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His next words quickly confirmed her thought. “But Hermione, I’ve treated you awfully on many occasions. Like the Firebolt, or always forgiving Ron so easily – “

“But you’ve also been there for me,” she interrupted. “You remembered me when the troll was loose in the castle. You visited me every day in the hospital wing after I drank the tainted Polyjuice Potion in second year. You kept studying things for the tournament with me before the first task, even though I knew you disliked how much more you were doing, because you didn’t want to disappoint me. You stayed at my side the entire time when we were fighting for our lives against the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. When I made those mushrooms for the first time, I know that you ate every one while Ron only ate a couple of bites, like you didn’t want to hurt my feelings over my admittedly terrible attempt at cooking food from the wilderness. And that dance in the tent… you showed me that there could still be hope and happiness in the world, even during the darkest times.”

Hermione couldn’t stop herself and grabbed his other hand to hold both, just like the previous night. “And I haven’t always been there for you, either. Need I remind you of sixth year, where I treated you more awfully than all other years combined, all because I thought Ron was the only choice available to try and get as a boyfriend? Or even before that, with the summer after fourth year. I listened to Dumbledore like a fool and didn’t contact you at all, when I should have spat in his face and either visited you at your relatives or brought you to my house, because you should never have had to be alone during that time after what you faced.”

Her words must have been working, as even though his astonishment was still obvious, his eyes were beginning to soften. She gave his hands a quick squeeze and continued. “Harry, relationships have their ups and downs. The important part is to be able to work through the valleys so that people can enjoy the peaks. And Harry, you’ve never done anything that I would consider so bad that the only way forward would be to throw away our friendship, and I doubt you ever will now that you’re overly concerned about such things. I want to help you through this valley you’ve become stuck in, which is why I was adamant about you coming with me today. Because I hope I can give you whatever holiday cheer I can, even if it’s just a temporary bit of happiness.”

As Hermione finally ended her long speech, Harry’s mouth silently opened and closed a few times. He really had no clue of what to say to her. She just kept quiet, eyes locked on his, allowing him time to figure out his next words.

After at least a minute, Harry whispered out, “I… I really don’t deserve a friend like you, Hermione.”

She smiled at him and said, “Well, maybe sometimes, it’s not about what we deserve. Maybe, it’s just about what is. And for me, it’s about you being so important that I’ll never give up on you, Harry. No matter what.” In more ways than just friendship, she couldn’t help thinking.

He smiled and closed his eyes. When he opened them a few seconds later, she could see the shine of tears within. Then, he replied, “Thank you. For this, and for everything else you’ve done. I, I can’t promise that I’ll get over these issues immediately, but I promise I’ll try my hardest not to let them overtake things during this break.”

She quietly said, “I won’t ask for any more than what you’re ready to give.”

He simply nodded, and their declarations were made. She let go of his hands, but she grew slightly confused when she saw Harry smirk and look behind her. Before she realized what was happening, Crookshanks walked into both of their laps before lying down and stretching out, just like how she’d seen when she walked back into the compartment.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other and burst out laughing at the cat’s antics.

“Guess we aren’t going anywhere for a while now, are we,” she jokingly said, after they both finally got their giggles under control.

“Ah, I can’t say I mind too much,” he replied, beginning to rub Crookshanks’ belly and giving one more chuckle when the cat began purring at the attention. As Harry continued to almost absentmindedly pet Crookshanks, he looked back out of the train window at the moving scenery, though with a small smile on his face this time. Hermione summoned her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ to pick up where she’d left off, and the two humans and cat all seemed to take comfort in the silence that followed.

The rest of the journey on the Hogwarts Express was just as peaceful as she’d hoped. Harry ended up falling asleep not long after that extensive talk and actually stayed as such for the entire trip. A thought began to prickle in her mind when he was surprised about having slept the whole trip, but now wasn’t the time to ask since they needed to get off the train. And before long, the two of them had crossed the platform barrier and were standing on the Muggle side of King’s Cross Station.

Pulling them over to the side so that they wouldn’t be in the way of the barrier, Hermione began sweeping her gaze all throughout the platform. She stopped when her eyes came to a bench at the other end of the platform, where two people were sitting and appeared to be having a conversation.

“There they are, my parents are here and waiting.”

As she turned back to Harry, her concern instantly flared up again upon seeing his face filled with dread. She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her.

“Harry,” she gently said, “you don’t have to worry so much, remember? I told you how my parents don’t hate or even dislike you.”

He shook his head for a couple of seconds before responding. “I know you did, Hermione, and you would never lie to me. But I just can’t help being afraid. What if seeing my face for the first time since Australia brings up those old feelings for them? Or they’re only OK with you wanting to be friends with me but not having me stay over with all of you? Not to mention how intimidating your father can probably be with his height.”

Hermione recalled the little bit of chatting that she and Harry had done before he left Australia, and some of it had to do with certain aspects of her parents that startled him upon meeting the two.

With her father, it was a combination of his height and eyes. Harry was already six feet tall, but her father had about four inches on even that. When combining that with his large brown eyes, which Harry had noted looked exactly like Hermione’s own chocolate eyes, it cut an intimidating figure whenever her dad would turn a hard glare onto someone. Harry had yet to experience such a glare himself, but she was sure the possibility was rolling around in his mind.

With her mother, it was how much of a resemblance Hermione had to her. The only clear differences were how her mother’s eyes were blue, she had her hair cut at the shoulders compared to Hermione’s reaching halfway down the back, and she was about an inch taller than Hermione, who was five feet and six inches. Beyond those attributes, the family resemblance was plainly obvious.

But now was not the time for Hermione to lose herself in runaway thoughts of the past. She needed to reassure Harry here and now. She took hold of his hands again, before she responded.

“Then I’ll do everything that I can to convince them to allow it. And if they somehow still won’t, then I’ll pay for some hotel room for you and me, and then we can figure out where to go from there for the rest of the holidays.”

Harry’s jaw dropped at her statement. He said with awe, “You would really do that?”

Hermione said, “Is it that surprising, Harry? I gave them up once already, didn’t I? And while I ultimately am glad that I got to spend the summer and reconnect with them, I’ve had my time with them. Now, it’s your turn, and I refuse to leave you again.”

He closed his eyes and then hung his head a bit. She just stood there, not moving her gaze an inch from him, and let him compose himself again. No matter how many times she had to repeat it, she would keep stressing his importance to her. Let him know that she would do anything to help him.

Maybe that would one day give her the courage to finally reveal all of her feelings.

After a minute or so, Harry pulled his head back up and opened his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he said, “OK. You’ve done so much for me, so I can be brave for you and face this head-on.”

She gave him a tender smile and squeezed his hands. “I’m glad to hear that. Now, what do you say we go face my parents now?”

They didn’t have to go far at all, as someone behind Hermione cleared their throat.

-O-

Unbeknownst to Harry and Hermione, Miranda Granger had glanced their way and saw them standing not far from the barrier that she and Jack knew led to the Hogwarts train platform. She saw Hermione turning her back to them, and a conversation must have been taking place because she saw Harry start speaking to Hermione.

“Something wrong, honey?”

Turning her attention back to her husband, she nudged her head in the direction behind him and said, “Looks like our daughter’s not alone, Jack.”

When he looked in the opposite direction, he saw Hermione having some kind of conversation with Harry Potter. And they both appeared to have trunks packed for the holiday break.

Turning back to face his wife, he sighed and gave her a resigned smile. “Looks like we’ll be having a second person for the holidays, won’t we.”

Miranda smirked, “We are, unless you’re willing to risk Hermione hating us for the rest of her life. You know how important Harry is to her.”

Jack couldn’t help the snort that left him before he replied to her. “Don’t we both. Not only argued to let our memories be modified so we would forget about her while she fought at his side in a magical war, but also spent hours arguing against us for his sake when we found her sobbing that night in Australia. And was successful in both regards! In fact, I bet that’s what they’re talking about now. From the things that Hermione was willing to tell us about him during that argument, I’d put money down on the boy being deathly afraid of us seeing him for the first time since the day they found us.”

She nodded at him. “I don’t doubt it. And she’ll definitely be ready to argue with us about Harry coming to stay with the three of us for the holidays, should we refuse him at first. I swear, if that girl hasn’t yet wised up to what she really feels about Harry, I’m going to strap her into a chair and tell her myself.”

Jack gave her a knowing grin before saying, “You were already trying to do that in our last letter to her, with that line about not needing books to spend time together. You’re also not wrong, though, about her needing a realization.”

Miranda looked back in the direction of her daughter and said, “Well, given that you’re the one that’s theoretically supposed to hate any teenage boy our daughter goes near, I do have to ask. What choice will it be, dear?”

He snorted at her again and stood up, holding his hand out to her as she stood with him. “You and I both know this would be the best Christmas gift we could give her, even if she said in her letter not to do a gift exchange because it was enough for her that our family was together. Come on, let’s go put them out of their misery.”

-O-

When she heard someone clear their throat, Hermione jerked around and tried to stretch herself to be as tall as possible to cover Harry while reaching into her jacket for her wand, a new vine wood and dragon heartstring wand that she’d gotten at Ollivander’s during the summer. She stopped before she could pull it out, however, when she realized exactly who had been standing behind her.

Her parents, both with loving smiles on their faces.

Removing her hand from her jacket and moving to stand beside Harry, Hermione took a deep breath to try and calm herself. In the meantime, she used her peripheral vision to take a quick glance at Harry’s expression. His anxiety was obvious for all to see.

Realizing what Hermione must have been about to do, Miranda said, “Sorry if we scared you, sweetheart. Just figured we would save you the trip over to the bench, since we saw you standing here.”

Hermione shook her head before walking forward and giving each of her parents a big hug, breaking away after about five seconds. “No Mum, it’s OK. Old habits die hard, I guess, after last year. It’s good to see you both again.”

“And we’re glad to see you again,” Jack replied. “Everything still going well up at the school?”

Hermione’s expression became anxious, as she took a deep breath and hesitantly replied. “Mostly, yeah. As for what isn’t, well… I suppose that depends on your answer to a question I have.”

Miranda quickly interceded. “You want Harry, who’s trying his best to shrink away behind you as though he can hide himself, to stay with us over the holidays, correct?”

Hermione felt her jaw drop, and she completely missed Harry doing the same behind her. She snapped out of the slight daze when her parents both chuckled, and she asked, “Were we that obvious?”

“Sweetheart,” Miranda responded, “while we may not be quite as smart as you, we do still have a brain cell or two.”

“The fact that you were both standing here with separate trunks meant that he probably wasn’t just here to see you off for Christmas,” Jack added in kind. “Combine that with us overhearing you talking about facing us over something, and the subject matter seems fairly obvious.”

Hermione stepped back to stand beside Harry, who had returned to looking as fearful as ever. Her parents’ statements worried her, so she began pleading. “I know how unexpected this is, but I only just thought of the idea last night when there was no time to send you a letter, and Harry’s never really had a regular Christmas before. After everything that happened last year, I don’t want to leave him alone for the holidays – “

“Hermione,” Miranda interrupted. “You don’t really think that we walked over here just to tell you ‘no,’ do you?”

Hermione’s mind shut down for a couple of seconds, as she’d been mentally preparing for at least some kind of fight and thus didn’t know how to respond now. In that small reprieve, her mother turned to an absolutely shocked Harry.

“So, would you like to join us for the Christmas holidays, Harry? Jack and I are both alright with it,” the man in question nodding his head at the statement as she continued to talk, “but the final choice is still ultimately yours. What do you say?”

This snapped Hermione out of her stupor, and she turned to Harry, who was in a daze of his own. She couldn’t blame him, since he had been fully expecting pushback about him joining them, even after everything she’d mentioned about her parents. All she could do was wait for him to make his decision. She just hoped she’d given him enough reason to stay.

Finally, Harry spoke, so quietly that they would have missed it had they not all been standing close to one another. “Yes, I would like that, Mr. and Mrs. Granger.”

Hermione was so elated that she couldn’t help herself and immediately slammed into him with a hug. After a couple of seconds, she realized that her parents were still standing there and that they had easily accepted the change in circumstances, so she broke away from Harry and then crashed into her parents, wrapping them up in a hug as much as she could.

“Thank you both, for accepting this so easily,” she whispered to them.

“You’re welcome, Little Worm,” they replied for only her to hear.

Hermione broke away from them and looked at Harry, who had remained standing at their trunks and had a somewhat awkward expression on his face. She moved to stand beside him again and gave him a gentle smile. It tickled her heart when he responded with a small smile of his own, no trace of fear or worry in his expression. It made her wish that she had a camera or Pensieve, so that she could always have a means to look back on this moment.

The two of them must have gotten lost in the moment for some time, because they were both startled when they heard a throat clear again. With blushes on their faces, they turned back to her parents, who were both standing there with knowing looks. Her mother even had a clear smirk on her face.

“Well then,” Jack said, “since it’s already evening, why don’t we get a move on? It’ll take an hour to reach home, so what do you two say we pick up some takeout? There’s a pretty good Chinese place not far from the house.”

“Ooh, that sounds good,” Hermione happily said, as she and Harry followed her parents to the car. “We can’t get that up at Hogwarts.” She looked back to Harry and asked, “Are you alright with that?”

He sheepishly said, “Anything is fine with me, really. I won’t really know what to get, though, since I’ve never had it.”

Hoping to stem off any deep discussions on this, since her parents were aware about what she knew of the Dursleys’ wretched treatment of Harry, she quickly responded, “The chicken and broccoli plate is one of my favorites. Why don’t you try that and see what you think?”

He quietly said, “Sure, that works. You’ve never steered me wrong before, even when I was being stupid and wouldn’t listen when I should have.”

Since they were bringing up the rear, neither of them could see the knowing glances that Jack and Miranda gave to one another after that statement, as the group continued their way through King’s Cross.

After that, the journey to the Granger residence was fairly mundane, beyond Jack and Miranda’s never-ending amazement with magic when Hermione shrunk down her and Harry’s school trunks to the size of textbooks before placing them in the trunk of their sedan. Miranda did raise a knowing eyebrow when, in the back seat, Hermione put Crookshanks’ cat carrier on the left side before buckling up in the middle to sit next to Harry, but said nothing beyond that.

Hermione talked for most of the ride, filling her parents in on almost anything related to her N.E.W.T. classes and how they were going. She took particular pride in telling them about how she was having to actually fight for her top spot now, since Harry was nipping at her heels in all of their shared classes. When her parents’ attention then turned to him, he somewhat timidly replied that it wasn’t so impressive since he not only had a good example in Hermione but also had only been doing so well for just this year, while Hermione had been the best in their year, if not the best in the school, for the entire time they had been at Hogwarts.

Unseen in the front, Jack and Miranda again gave each other knowing smiles, happy at how Harry and Hermione naturally played up the other person more.

When the four finally arrived at the house with their food, Harry and Hermione left their still-shrunken trunks beside the living room entrance at her parents’ request, since that was closest to the front door, while everyone ate dinner in the kitchen. Hermione also let Crookshanks out of his cat carrier so he could finally roam free again.

To Hermione’s amusement, Harry’s eyes went wide when he took his first bite of Chinese takeout. When she teasingly asked him if it was good, he happily nodded at her, almost like a kid that found a new favorite thing, and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to try and hide her silent giggles at the sight. Miranda was doing the same in trying to hide her own laughter, but Jack did no such thing and openly chuckled before joking about whether they needed to worry about having Chinese every meal for the next two weeks.

Harry sheepishly smiled at them all before apologizing if he got carried away, to which Hermione immediately said that it was good to see him happy, since that’s what the holidays were for. The grateful smile he flashed her way warmed her spirit.

After that, the four ate their meals in a comfortable silence at the round table. They had enough room to not be in anyone else’s space while eating, but the table was also small enough that they could enjoy the presence of one another. When they finished, Harry jumped up and immediately made to start cleaning all the dishes and putting them away, but Miranda quickly and firmly stopped him by saying that he was a guest in the house and was required to do no such thing. He was about to protest when Hermione spoke up with an idea.

“Harry, why don’t you come with me, and I can show you the rest of the house?”

Harry turned to her and quietly said, “OK, sure. Lead the way.” Over his shoulder, her mother was giving her a nod at the idea, so Hermione led Harry back down the hallway into the living room.

“Well, you’ve seen our kitchen. Now you can get a good look in here, since you didn’t when we first walked into the house.”

From the entrance to the room, there was a 36-inch television set up on a stand at the left wall, a sofa along the right wall directly across from the TV, a loveseat near the far end of the sofa, and an armchair near the closest end while also being directly across from the loveseat. There were side tables at each end of the sofa such that people in the other chairs could easily reach them, along with a larger coffee table directly in the middle of all the furniture, though the setup was such that there was still enough room to comfortably walk in between all the furniture as well. A four-shelf bookcase next to the TV contained different movies the family had bought over the years on the bottom two shelves, and some stray books on the second shelf from the top.

Set up in the far-left corner of the room, there was a bare Christmas tree. Hermione knew that her parents were probably waiting for her before decorating the tree. They’d done that on the other Christmases where she would come home, once she had started going to Hogwarts. She couldn’t help smiling a little in her mind that Harry would get to help decorate a tree for the first time.

Harry hadn’t yet said anything, so she prodded him a little. “So, what do you think?”

As he walked further into the room and stood at the back of the armchair, he murmured, “It looks… homey. Like it’s set up such that people have enough room to be comfortable but are still close enough that they can easily talk with each other and enjoy their presence.” Turning to her with an awkward expression, he said, “If that makes any sense.”

“I think it does,” she replied, moving to stand beside him. “Almost like what you think an ideal family might have, right?”

He nodded pensively at her interpretation but remained silent, so she continued.

“To be honest, my parents and I have always used the sofa together. The other two pieces are basically if visitors would be here. And after the end of fourth year, when I was starting to drift away from them until everything with Riddle finally ended, it was almost one of the ways we kept together when we would spend time in here.”

His expression instantly fell, and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Don’t, Harry,” she said with resolution. “It’s like I said earlier. I’ll always be grateful that I got to spend this summer with my parents and reconnect with them after all was said and done. But now, it’s your turn.”

While he still looked at her with sadness, in a surprising twist, he actually reached forward and pulled her into a hug. She quickly responded and wrapped him up as tightly as breathing would allow. They silently stood there for a while, with Hermione hoping that he was getting any level of comfort out of this that she was able to give. The two of them were so lost in the moment, they never saw two other faces peek in on the scene and then quietly sneak away back to the kitchen.

At some point, Harry finally began to pull back, so Hermione loosened her own hold. As they stared at one another for a few seconds, he whispered, “Thank you.”

She smiled and replied, “Anytime.”

Looking up to the clock on the wall above the television, she then said, “Alright then, since it’s already nine o’clock, how about we keep going, so I can get to every room?” He simply nodded, so she led them out of the living room, telling him to also grab his shrunken trunk so that they’ll have it once they finally reach the guest room where he would stay.

Going down the hallway, they passed the kitchen on the left side, and then Hermione stopped them at a doorway a little bit past it on the right. “Here, we’ve got one of our bathrooms. We only ever use it for the toilet, though, since my parents have their own bathroom connected to their master bedroom, and there’s another one upstairs, before you get to my room and the guest room, that I’ve always used for baths and showers. Not to mention this one is smaller than both of those.” Turning to him, she said, “We really only installed this bathroom to keep visitors from having the chance to snoop around upstairs if they would use that one. But it’s at least still useful to have down here whenever there’s a sickness emergency or a dire need for a toilet, you know?”

Continuing for a few steps, she pointed into the next door on the left and spoke as he looked inside. “This room is what we call the cleaner room. The washer and dryer are here with their respective supplies, along with a lot of other general cleaning and bathroom supplies within the closet behind the door on the left wall inside. Good to keep in mind, but may not be necessary since Mum has always been pretty insistent about doing my laundry herself whenever I’ve been home on school holidays. Says she enjoys it because it reminds her that I’m home. While the sentiment wouldn’t be the same, don’t be surprised if she takes on your laundry, as well, since you _are_ considered a guest in the house.”

At the end of the hall by the door to the back yard, they did basically a quick U-turn while entering the alcove on the right to find the stairs that led to the second floor. After reaching the top, she stopped when they came to the first doorway on the left.

As Harry looked inside, she said, “This is my parents’ bedroom. While I doubt that you’ll have much need to ever really come in here, you’ll know where my parents are if you might need them for something late at night.” He just shrugged and nodded at her statement.

Before they could move on down the hall, they heard footsteps drawing closer on the stairs, and her parents appeared a few seconds later as Harry moved out of the doorway to stand beside Hermione.

Seeing the two still holding their magically-shrunken trunks under their arms, Jack lightheartedly said, “I see the tour is a bit slow-going, then.”

Hermione replied, “I was showing off everything else as we came to it when walking through the house, since our rooms would have been the last part to reach regardless. Anyway, what’s up? Are you already turning in for the night?”

Miranda answered, “Even with having taken these two weeks off from work, we were up early this morning in anticipation of you coming home, and you know how we like to try and get our eight hours of sleep.”

Hermione silently nodded at the statement, as her mother continued. “Now, I’m sure you both saw the empty tree standing in the living room. With you finally arriving home, how about we spend time tomorrow afternoon to make it look pretty?”

While Hermione’s first instinct was to immediately agree given her earlier thought in the living room, she still wanted Harry to have a choice about things. Looking to him on her left, she asked, “What do you say? Does that sound good to you?”

He shook his head and timidly answered, “It doesn’t matter, I don’t mind doing whatever you all want.”

Jack replied, “Hermione has a point, Harry. You still get a choice in the matter, since you’re a part of this household for the next couple of weeks.”

Harry looked from Hermione’s parents back to her. She gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile, and saw some of the nervousness in his eyes wash away. Not removing his gaze from her, he said, “OK then, yeah. That sounds good to me.”

“Then it’s a plan,” Jack said. “With that, we’ll leave you both to your devices. Good night, you two.”

“Night Mum, night Dad,” Hermione said.

Harry answered in turn, “Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. And thank you again for being willing to let me stay.”

Miranda replied, “You’re quite welcome, Harry. And don’t feel obligated to be formal the whole time. You can call us Miranda and Jack if you so desire.” Jack nodded his own agreement.

Harry’s sheepish response was, “Alright, I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

With that, the parents entered their bedroom and closed the door.

Looking back to Harry now that the two of them were alone again, Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “See? It’s not been nearly as bad as you were dreading, has it?”

“That’s an understatement if there ever was one,” he quietly answered.

Not wanting to dwell too much on negative thoughts, she said, “Well, how about we check out these last few rooms so that we can call it a night, too? We’ve probably been up just as long as my parents, since we both woke up early this morning.”

He just nodded, so she led him farther down the hall and stopped at the next door on the right. “Here’s the bathroom I was telling you about earlier. It’s a lot bigger than the one on the first floor, which is why that one downstairs is typically used strictly for the toilet. Admittedly though, that _is_ less often than you may think since walking up the stairs does at least count as a very mild form of exercise.”

He let out a soft chuckle at her ending statement but said nothing more, so she continued. “So, this will probably be the bathroom you use, too. We always leave the door open when we’re through so that others know there’s nobody inside, so if you come in here and shut the door, we’ll know not to walk in and disturb you.”

At that point, Harry actually asked a question. “Do you have times you typically take for occupying the bathroom? I don’t want to put you off any routine you have, if I can help it.”

Hermione shook her head. “No, don’t worry about that at all. It’s a first-come first-serve basis, so if something happens like you already taking a shower when I wake up in the morning, that’s alright.”

“OK, if you’re sure.”

“I am, Harry. Really.” He didn’t respond with something else, and so she nudged them along to the end of the hall, where the final two rooms awaited, sitting directly opposite one another. Pointing him to the one on the left, he was surprised when she entered and then beckoned him to come in. She moved to the end of the bed and placed her trunk down on the floor, while he took a couple of steps inside but then stopped, his eyes going wide as he appeared to realize where they were.

“Welcome to my room,” she said as she pulled out her wand and undid the Shrinking Charm, her trunk returning to its normal size in less than a second. She then sat on the bed and looked back to Harry. “Though you probably already realized that from the bookcases that are filled to the brim.”

From the perspective of someone looking inside from the doorway, her bed was parallel with the opposite wall, with its head positioned at the corner of the opposite and right walls. A dresser, about five feet tall and with four drawers, was placed along the right wall a few feet away from the bed, and it had a couple of framed pictures sitting on top. There was a desk positioned at the center of the left wall. Looking from it further to the left, there was a smaller, two-drawer dresser parallel to the wall with the doorway, but that dresser had an attached mirror that was at least four feet high. To the right of the entrance was her closet door. There were also other pictures scattered about each wall, though none were directly above the bed.

The most striking pieces, though, were the two bookcases lined up next to each other starting at the corner of the left and opposite walls. They were over six feet in height, had five shelves each, and all but one shelf on each bookcase was filled as completely as possible with books. This was what made Harry stop and stare. Hermione couldn’t help the giggle that left her at his expression, which caused him to immediately turn back to her. She patted the bed, to which he took the hint and sat down on her left side, dropping his shrunken trunk at his feet.

“Yeah, I have a lot of books,” she teased. “That’s not even all of them. I’ve got a couple of boxes in my closet with some older books that I didn’t want to get rid of, and Mum and Dad have a couple of boxes in their closet with my youngest childhood books to have as sort of keepsakes.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised that there are even more,” he said with a smile. She stuck her tongue out at him, which only caused his smile to grow a little bit. Then, the mentions about her childhood made her think of some specific memories.

“Speaking of books and childhood…” She hesitated for a second but then remembered that she could trust Harry. “Promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to say?”

He replied seriously, “I promise. Although, if it’s something that you’re afraid of others knowing, you don’t even have to tell _me_ if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s OK. I trust you, Harry.” His eyes went a bit softer at her declaration, but he didn’t give a response, so she kept talking. “I started reading as early as toddlers are capable of starting. With as many books as my parents would get for me, Dad eventually started calling me ‘Little Worm’ as a nickname, since I always had a book with me, and it stuck ever since, at least in private among my parents and myself. While it’s probably a silly nickname, it’s always been affectionate coming from them, since Mum and Dad have been as proud as parents could be with my accomplishments going back to childhood. But…”

When she trailed off, Harry quietly asked, “Did something happen?”

Hermione gave him a sad smile and replied, “Well, let’s just say that people in school that called me ‘bookworm’ when I was growing up weren’t nearly as affectionate.”

Harry looked away at the floor, as though he wasn’t sure what to say. But then, he surprised her for the second time that night. He actually took hold of her left hand in his right before pulling his head up. When his eyes were locked onto hers again, he whispered, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. And I’m sorry I didn’t stand up for you against Ron when he did the same thing to you in first year.”

“I’ve never blamed you for what happened back then,” she whispered right back. “And… answer me this one question about the troll incident, Harry. Did Ron remember me on his own, or did he only come because _you_ remembered me?”

He was silent for a few seconds, but he never once moved his gaze from her. Then, with no small amount of sadness in his tone, he said, “The latter.”

She squeezed his hand a bit tighter and nodded. “That’s what I thought.” The two of them just sat in silence for a little bit afterward, never letting go of each other’s hand, as the memory of that time swept through their minds.

Eventually, Hermione looked at the clock hanging on her closet door. Seeing that it was almost nine-thirty already, she looked at Harry and said, “We’ve still got one final room left. What do you say we head there?”

He just stared at her for a second before nodding his acquiescence and letting go of her hand. Once he picked up his trunk, they both stood up before she led them across the hallway into the guest room. This one was a lot sparser, with only a bed lined up along the right wall, a three-drawer dresser on the left side of the opposite wall, and a clock on the closet door that was beside the room entrance.

Stepping out of his way, she said, “Well, welcome to your new abode for the next two weeks. I know it’s pretty bare, but it’s basically only ever used when an extended family member occasionally comes to stay, and they’re never here more than a few days. Will this be alright?”

He mimicked her actions by dropping his trunk at the foot of the bed and undoing the Shrinking Charm. Then, as he moved to stand with her, he replied, “It’ll be perfect, Hermione. Don’t worry.”

While she was still a bit anxious in her mind, she would take him at his word. She quietly said, “Alright, well… I guess I’ll leave you to unpack how you like. Make yourself at home. And if you need anything… I’m right across the hall. Don’t hesitate to come and wake me up if need be.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. And… thank you for everything you’ve done, Hermione. With this break, the war, and all that came before.”

His words put her heart on cloud nine. Unable to resist the temptation filling her head, she leaned in and gave him a soft, lingering kiss on his left cheek. When she parted, his expression was full of surprise, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. As he touched his hand to the spot she’d kissed and held it there, she merely whispered, “Sleep well, Harry.”

As she turned to exit the room, the last words she heard were a quiet, “You too, Hermione.” She just kept walking to her room, knowing that she would never make it if she stopped and turned around to look at him, and shut the door.

However long it ended up being for her to keep holding out and resist telling him her true feelings, assuming he didn’t manage to figure them out on his own, she knew there was no way she was going to last more than the two weeks of the holiday break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, the little world-building I did with the Granger residence comes off as sensible. I can see images of the descriptions I wrote in my head, but I obviously can't guarantee that others may feel the same. A lot of that was based on what I've seen and known throughout my life. I like and can handle conversations and character interactions (I slogged through Mass Effect 3 specifically because of the romance arc with Shepard and Garrus, for anyone familiar with that game), but world-building is decidedly not my forte.
> 
> For the record, the bit I mentioned getting Rutledge's opinion on before the start of the chapter was where Hermione talks about how things sometimes aren't about what people deserve. I wanted to see if someone else would like it as I did, since it could seem a bit cheesy or corny (and I'm a real sucker for cheese and/or corn lol).
> 
> Thanks to all of you that enjoyed and praised Chapter 1! And for everyone that made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!


	3. Deck the Halls

Hermione woke up at six the next morning. Stepping out of her room and walking down the hall, she saw the bathroom door was wide open and decided to go ahead and take her shower. Heading back to her room to gather her clothes for today, she stopped for a second when she came to the junction of her room and Harry’s room. His door was slightly cracked open, rather than being completely open or shut. She was tempted for a second to go in and check on him, to make sure he was sleeping peacefully. Her logical mind quickly shut that idea down, however, as she could just end up disturbing him. She just went back to her task, picked out her clothes, and went to the bathroom and shut the door.

As she went through her shower routine, her mind focused completely on her last interaction with Harry the previous night. Granted, it’s not like it was the first time she’d given him a cheek kiss. That honor went to the end of fourth year. And once she’d awakened in the last week to how deep her feelings for Harry were, and started scrutinizing her memories for all prior interactions with Harry, she realized that the fourth-year kiss had been her way of trying to get him to notice her. But after everything that happened in fifth year, and Harry then still didn’t give any indication about feeling more for her at the start of sixth year, she’d finally started going after Ron in the hopes that he was at least a sure choice.

The only reason Hermione could think of for her wretched treatment of Harry that year was that she was subconsciously trying to get over the deeper feelings, even if she hadn’t yet realized how much she felt for Harry, but overcompensated and thus was almost trying to push him away. Of course, she would never try to use it as an excuse, since there was no reason great enough to excuse her actions that year.

Hermione sighed and shook her head as she turned off the shower and got out to dry off. She really needed to sit down with Harry and apologize for how badly she acted toward him that year. She’d brought it up during the train ride, but that wasn’t a complete apology, and he deserved a full one.

For now, though, she focused back on comparing her cheek kisses. The one from last night was nothing like that from after fourth year. That early one had been much more innocent, more of a quick peck. This one, however, could almost be considered sensual, especially with how she lingered on his cheek for a couple of seconds.

His reactions were even markedly different. In fourth year, his eyes had widened a little bit, but it was a mixture of surprise and confusion. Last night, his eyes went huge and were filled with only amazement. And the way he’d gingerly touched his hand to the spot where she kissed him… she’d definitely made the right choice in not staying in his room any longer. Even now, just reminiscing on the memory, her heart was singing temptations to her mind.

As she finished patting her head with her towel to dry it as much as she could, she shook her head again to knock those thoughts out of it before beginning to get dressed. Her focus needed to be on making sure he had a peaceful break. Revealing her feelings too early could ruin things by just confusing him, especially if he didn’t have any remote deeper feelings for her.

Once Hermione was dressed in her green long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans, and then finished brushing her teeth, she looked in the mirror one last time. She froze and realized that the shirt she’d grabbed from her closet was the exact same color of green as Harry’s emerald eyes.

She wistfully sighed. She really did have it bad for that boy.

When Hermione exited the bathroom, she quietly walked back toward Harry’s room, just for one final check. His door was still cracked open the same amount, so either he’d gotten up long before or he was still asleep. She hoped that it was the latter, as she made her way downstairs. She saw her parents’ bedroom door wide open, so she at least knew that they were awake.

There was no one in the kitchen, so she made her way to the living room and found her parents watching the television while sitting next to each other on the far end of the sofa. Her mum was snuggled as close as she could be into her dad’s left side, though she sat up a little straighter when the two of them noticed Hermione walk in.

“Morning, Little Worm,” Jack said.

“Good morning, Mum and Dad,” Hermione replied, taking her customary seat on the middle cushion of the sofa, since there was still a bit of empty space between her and her mum. Glancing up at the clock, it read six forty-five, consistent with how long her shower routine typically was.

Then, her dad asked, “Was Harry still asleep?”

“As far as I know,” she replied. “His door was cracked open the same amount when I finished my shower routine as it had been before I went to the bathroom.”

The next sentence she heard, from her mum, immediately baffled her to no end. “While we have a bit of time then, I have to ask. Have you finally figured it out?”

Turning her head to her parents, she asked in confusion, “What do you mean?”

Miranda quietly replied, “How you truly feel about Harry.”

Hermione’s eyes went wide with shock, but she gave a resigned sigh, knowing she couldn’t escape this. “How long have you suspected?”

“Hermione,” Jack said, “we’ve known at _least_ since you found us in Australia. When you were willing to not only give up your own family to fight in a war with him, but also spend hours telling us about some of his circumstances and successfully convince us not to think badly of him when we found you crying after he left, it leaves very few options as to why you would do that. And frankly, us realizing that you felt deeply for the boy made a lot of your actions in earlier years make sense, like when you refused to go on the ski trip three years ago in order to go see him.”

Hermione felt her mouth drop in astonishment. “I didn’t even figure it out until this last week, after you sent me your response about Christmas, which finally caused me to reflect on things and remove all doubt as to what I felt. And you’re saying that you’ve known basically all year?!”

The parents both nodded and then spoke at the same time. “Yep.”

Miranda added, “You always did try to think more with your head over your heart, Hermione, for good or ill. Probably a byproduct of your great intelligence. In any case, it’s not surprising that it took you longer. Of course, if you hadn’t realized before the end of this holiday break, I would have tied you to a chair and interrogated you until you finally had that epiphany.”

Hermione pouted a little, first at her mother’s statement and then at her father’s responding chuckle to her expression. “Gee, thanks Mum,” she said as sarcastically as possible.

The teasing response she received was, “Of course, anytime.”

Hermione couldn’t help the snort that left her in amusement at her mother’s cheekiness.

The three of them went silent after that. Hermione picked up one of her old books that was sitting on the coffee table, the subject being about prehistoric times, and began reading while her parents continued to watch television. Her guess was that they were waiting for both her and Harry before beginning breakfast, since no preparations had been made yet in the kitchen.

At seven thirty, Harry finally made his way into the living room, in jeans and a red shirt. The corner of her mouth lifted a bit at how she and he had managed to be festive without even planning it. When he noticed her and her parents on the sofa, he immediately started becoming timid. “Good morning,” he shyly said, while sitting down in the armchair.

“Good morning,” the three of them replied at once.

Hermione closed her book and set it on the table. Seeing that he would quickly shrink in on himself if left alone, she decided to try and turn his focus to her. She knew her parents would probably tease her in private, given the previous conversation, but if she could help put him at ease, then it was worth it.

She asked Harry, “Did you sleep well? Was the bed in the guest room alright?”

Her plan seemed to work, as when his eyes locked onto hers, a bit of his nervousness did fade. He responded, “Yeah, I slept alright. And the bed was just fine, Hermione. Didn’t have any issues.”

While his tone was neutral enough that people who didn’t know him well enough wouldn’t be able to tell, Hermione heard the slight astonishment in his voice when he said that he slept alright. That, combined with the memory of him being surprised when she woke him up on the train and told him he slept peacefully for most of the ride, gave her enough suspicion to believe that he was hiding something. Maybe his nightmares were more frequent than the one or two times per week she originally believed, at least going by the number of times he would be up very early in the common room. Of course, this would be a subject she would only bring up the next time they were alone.

Hearing the sounds of movement on her right, Hermione looked over to see her parents standing up. Then, Jack said, “Glad to hear that. And now that everybody’s up, Miranda and I will go get breakfast ready. How does bacon, eggs, and toast sound, Harry? The three of us usually have a piece of fruit as well, since we tend to eat smaller portions of the other foods in order to keep things somewhat healthier. You don’t have to follow our lead, that’s just another option for you if you so choose.”

Harry stood from the chair. “That all sounds good, Mr. Granger. Is there anything I can do to help? I’ve done a lot of cooking since childhood.”

Miranda walked up to Harry, patted his shoulder, and said, “If that’s the case, then you can relax and enjoy others cooking for you, though we do appreciate the offer. You’re the guest, Harry. Don’t feel like you need to justify the fact that you’re staying here.”

Harry slowly sat back down in the chair and replied, “Um, alright then, Mrs. Granger. Then, if you can just give me the same thing that the three of you eat, that would be fine. And thank you both.”

“Still so polite. We’ll break you out of that shell yet.”

“Alright now, Miranda,” Jack interceded. “Let’s leave the young ones be.” Then, looking from Harry to Hermione, he added, “We’ll call you both when everything’s ready. Probably give it about twenty minutes or so.”

Hermione said, “That sounds good, Dad. Thank you.” With that, her parents walked out of the living room and left her and Harry alone.

He sat in the chair somewhat awkwardly, as though he felt he should be up and doing something else. Thinking now was as good a time as any to see if he would open up further to her, she took a risk and patted the empty space next to her on the sofa. The confusion was palpable in his expression, but he didn’t say anything. And after a couple of seconds, he stood from the armchair and sat next to her on her left side, just like the previous night.

“Harry,” she whispered, not wanting her parents to hear any part of this. “Can I ask you something? And if you don’t want to answer me, I won’t mind.”

Realizing this must have been serious, he replied just as quietly, “Sure, Hermione. Anything.”

She took a deep breath before asking, “How often do you have nightmares?”

His eyes widened a bit, and he rapidly blinked for a couple of seconds, obviously not expecting that question. His hesitant answer was, “Why do you ask?”

“Harry, I could hear the faint disbelief in your tone when you said that you slept alright. And on the train ride, you were really surprised when I woke you up and told you how you slept for most of the ride after Crookshanks crawled into our laps. Those things make me worry that your nightmares are more frequent than you’ve let on, and I want to help if I can. But like I said, you don’t have to answer me, I won’t force you to. Just know that, if you want to talk, or if there’s anything I can do for you, I’m here.”

Sadness overtook his features, as he looked away from her down to the floor. Remembering how he seemed to respond better with her touch, she took his right hand and gently held it. This caused him to look at their joined hands. After a few more seconds, he took a deep breath and then locked his eyes with hers again. Then, he finally spoke.

“Every night, Hermione. Every night since I left Australia.”

She couldn’t stop the gasp that left her. “You have nightmares every night? Does anyone else know?” His only response was to shake his head. “But how have you kept everyone in your dorm from finding out?”

“With a very liberal usage of silencing protections around my bed. If I do disturb someone when I get out of bed, they don’t ask questions because I’ve been waking up earlier all year anyway. And in case you ask, the times that you’ve woken up to find me already in the common room are generally the worst nights, where I just can’t get back to sleep.”

She could feel tears starting to gather in her eyes, but she took a couple of deep breaths to hold them back, trying to be strong for him. Then, she said with a slight quiver, “May I ask what they’re about?”

His expression became pained, though she wasn’t completely sure whether it was because of him having to relive the memories, or if he was reacting to her own pain that she was trying to hide upon learning this information. “Well, like I told you two nights ago, many of them are about having lost my purpose, where people that died tell me that there’s nothing left for me. But those aren’t the only ones. I have a lot of pure war flashbacks, and they always feel so real that it’s like the war never actually ended. Then, there are the dreams where it flashes back to one of our dangerous adventures while at Hogwarts, only they always end with people dying and me being unable to save them. The…”

He trailed off and looked away again, closing his eyes. She squeezed his hand, hoping to be comforting, and that seemed to give him the strength to look at her again.

He choked out, “The Department of Mysteries, with you being hit by the curse, is a pretty frequent one.”

She instinctually pulled him closer to her and wrapped him in a fierce hug, his arms going just as tightly around her a second later.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for making you relive terrible memories. And I’m sorry that I haven’t helped you more.”

He replied as firmly as he could through the lump that she could tell was in his throat, “Don’t say that, Hermione. I’m the one that brushed you off whenever you were concerned. You’ve always been there for me. I was just too stupid and stubborn to let you in. And… I’m kind of glad that you know me so well that you could tell something was off, and that you were willing to say something.”

She didn’t know what to say, so she just squeezed him a little bit harder in response. He must have realized what she was trying to convey, because he did the same right afterward.

After a few more minutes, they finally pulled away from each other. Though sadness still lingered in his eyes, he gave her a small smile of gratitude, one which she couldn’t help returning. She was glad that he accepted her meddling, for lack of a better term, and she hoped that maybe this could begin a healing process where his nightmares would start to go away.

That caused her to remember what started this whole conversation in the first place, and she said, “So, did you not have any nightmares yesterday? Is that why you seemed so surprised to have slept well on the train and last night?”

He nodded. “Yeah, got it in one. Normally, even if it’s something short and I’m able to go back to sleep in a few minutes, I’ve always had at least one nightmare. Yesterday was the first time, and second as well if we count the train and the guest room as separate occasions, that I actually had none at all.”

He looked down to the floor again, but this time with a half-smile. “I guess it had something to do with you. I don’t know if it was because I finally opened up to you about my issues, or if maybe it was just because I knew you were near if I needed you, but I do know that the only variable that’s changed in the equation has been you.” He then looked back at her, with a full smile.

Though she wasn’t sure she deserved as much credit as he was bestowing upon her, she did return his smile and reply, “Whatever the case is, I’m just glad that you _are_ getting a bit of peace. You deserve it for everything you’ve done.”

He instantly said, with his expression becoming tender, “Couldn’t have done any of it without you.”

With the way he was gazing at her, her heart was crying out to give him a full kiss. Even with the danger of being caught by her parents, she was very quickly losing her willpower to resist. Luckily, the sound of footsteps in the hall broke through her mind. As she leaned a bit to look past Harry, her mum appeared in the living room doorway.

“Breakfast is ready, you two,” she told them.

Hermione replied, “OK, thank you Mum.”

Harry said at the same time, “Thank you, Mrs. Granger.”

Miranda nodded and walked off. Hermione and Harry looked at each other one more time, before then standing up at the same time and walking to the kitchen.

While Harry still remained fairly quiet as they ate breakfast, Hermione could tell in his body language that he wasn’t feeling as shy at the moment. Maybe her little icebreaker when he first appeared, or the talk they had when they were alone, helped out more than she thought. In the meantime, she was the one that filled the silence by talking more about the upcoming N.E.W.T. exams she and Harry would have to take. Warmth filled her when, after her parents joked at one point about her having turned Harry into a second version of herself, he actually smirked and said that there were plenty of worse people to emulate. Her parents chuckled and replied that they couldn’t disagree.

Once they all had finished eating, Harry once again immediately offered his help for anything he could do. Jack waved him off and said for him and Hermione to go have fun for a while. The two of them just walked back to the living room and sat down in their previous position on the sofa.

Hermione, starting to grow a little worried at how little she really did at home in her spare time, timidly spoke to Harry. “Um, so… I’m sure this won’t be very shocking, but I spend a lot of my free time here just reading. If, if you would rather do something else, you could flip through the TV channels to find something you may like. Or I could maybe dig out some of our old board games, if you want something interactive. Or even go out for a walk, since the sun is shining outside – “

“Hermione,” he interceded, causing her to immediately shut up. He then looked over at the thick book she’d been reading that morning and asked, “What was that book you had earlier?”

Though a bit surprised, she picked the book up and held it in her lap. “Oh, this is one of my childhood books. It’s been so long since I remember last reading it, it may as well be a new book. It’s a history book going through the Mesozoic Era chronologically. That’s when dinosaurs dominated the planet. Not completely sure why this one was sitting here on its own, but I know I’ve got others on the Paleozoic Era, Cenozoic Era, and pre-Paleozoic times.”

His eyebrows were raised as he replied, “That’s pretty big for a childhood book. Almost seems more like an encyclopedia for research.”

She smiled at him. “Well yes, it basically is. But I was seven years old when I received this and its companions, so it’s not all _that_ far-fetched. I loved to read, what can I say. And though I’ve read and own plenty of regular novels, nonfiction was always my main focus, wanting to learn every fact I possibly could. Of course, given how eager I was for learning in general after I was able to read, Mum and Dad didn’t skimp out on math and science books, as well. Basically, I had books that relate to every subject you could take in school.”

He returned the smile but then, after a couple of seconds, grew pensive and stared at the book. She couldn’t resist asking, “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing that can be fixed. I was just… wishing right now that I could have gotten the same opportunities for learning as your parents gave you.”

She set the book down to her right on the sofa before linking her left hand with his right. He glanced at their hands for a second before gazing at her again.

“I don’t think I ever told you this,” he began whispering, “but after I learned from Hagrid that I was a wizard, and got my books in Diagon Alley, I spent nearly every waking moment reading them. I would even stay up later at night and use a flashlight to read, hiding under my covers while doing so to try and dim the light in case my relatives would wake up for any reason. In fact, that’s how I found the name Hedwig, by reading our History of Magic book.” His eyes grew a bit pained at recalling his lost companion, but his voice managed to remain steady as he continued. “I read every day for the rest of that summer, and was excited to be going to a new place where I could possibly do well for myself.”

He shifted his gaze back to the floor. While she was afraid that she might be prying too deeply, she had to ask the question. “So, may I ask what happened? Whenever I pushed you and Ron to study, you would blow it off more often than not. Although, I guess I was pretty bad with nagging, and maybe still am, hoping that others would have the same eagerness to learn as I did.”

He lifted his head and said, “No, Hermione, don’t blame yourself for that. You’re right, I did skive off a lot when it came to studying. Even in situations where I shouldn’t have, like the Triwizard Tournament after the first task. And… I guess it was because Ron was always against studying when it wasn’t strictly for homework and tests. He was the first friend my age that I ever had, and third friend overall after Hagrid and Hedwig. I was afraid of pushing him away, although look how that turned out with where we are now. And it still doesn’t excuse my actions at all, since I always had the choice to study, and I chose not to.”

She squeezed his hand and replied, “Well, you’re certainly putting in time this year.”

“Maybe, but it’d be empty as hell if you hadn’t been stubborn enough to stick with me this whole time.”

His nod to the feelings of loss that he admitted experiencing made Hermione realize that she kept them on heavy subjects for the entire morning thus far. Her guilt must have shown through in her expression, because Harry became concerned and asked, “What is it? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you, Harry. It just hit me that I was worried about finding something enjoyable for you, yet here I am keeping us talking about depressing subjects. I’m sorry, you don’t have to sit here with me any longer if you would rather find something else to do.” She then let go of his hand after her final statement, as a means to try and tell him with her actions that it was OK if he left.

Harry just stared at her with a pondering expression. But then, with his eyes flicking over to the book beside her, he said, “Well, here’s an idea. I know that this will probably seem a bit silly, but…”

At his pause, she responded, “What is it? You can tell me anything.”

A blush rose on his face as he hesitantly continued, “How would you feel about… sharing the book and reading it together?”

Hermione could hardly believe what she was hearing. She asked in astonishment, “Would you really want to do that?”

He nodded. “It’s something you enjoy, and… I don’t want you to feel like you have to completely change yourself just because I’m here.”

The statement melted her heart. She had been afraid that she wouldn’t have enough things they could do to keep him from growing bored, yet here he was, offering to sit and read simply because she liked it. She also giggled in her mind at the irony that, after her mother’s teasing about spending time together outside of books led to the realization about her feelings for Harry, books might actually help to bring them closer together.

Smiling at him as she picked up the book and scooted closer to him, she placed it on her left leg and opened the cover. He took hold of the corner of the book’s left side to steady it, while she did the same with the right one. Then, she softly asked, “Do you want to start from the beginning?”

“You can make that decision, Hermione. And don’t worry about trying to go slower for me, since I’m sure you’ll easily outpace me in reading. I’ll tell you if I want to stay on a page longer. Is that alright?”

She nodded and turned to the first page. After that, the only sound made was the flipping of pages as they sat there and read, neither one of them bothering to keep track of time. Harry would sometimes hold up a finger while shaking his head as a signal to not turn the page if he was interested in something. He tended to do so on the pages specifically about the dinosaurs and other creatures of the time period, his eyes barely widening and his expression growing a bit more focused while reading.

Hermione was vaguely aware of the occasional footstep in the hall but gave it no heed since no one ever entered the living room. Even if she had, she was enjoying this quiet time with Harry too much to think about anything else. In fact, at one point, she couldn’t resist joining her left hand with his right hand again, also intertwining their fingers this time. When they looked to one another after she did so, while she couldn’t keep from blushing, she gave him a timid smile. Her heart fluttered when he flashed her a small smile and gave her hand a squeeze. They turned back to the book and continued their reading, this time with those little smiles perpetually stuck on their faces.

Eventually, their reading was disturbed when they heard the sounds of heavier footsteps and objects clinking together. When they looked to the living room entrance, Hermione’s parents walked in one after another, each carrying a see-through bin with Christmas decorations. Harry quickly unlinked his hand from Hermione’s, with her knowing he wouldn’t want to face questions about it. There was no hiding their sitting right next to each other, however, when her parents set the bins down near the tree and then turned to them.

Miranda spoke, “I have to say, I’m surprised you two sat there all morning, when I passed through the hall and noticed you in here not long after breakfast. It’s already eleven o’clock.”

Harry was actually the one to respond, sheepishly smiling as he said, “Sorry, Mrs. Granger. I guess we lost track of time.”

“Oh, no need for apologies,” she replied. “If you two were enjoying your reading, that’s all that matters. But now, we talked last night about decorating the tree. What do you say we get to work on that?”

Hermione nodded and closed the book. Placing it on the coffee table, she stood up and began walking to the tree, Harry following a step behind her. After Jack moved the tree just a bit more out of the corner so that there was more room to walk behind it, it was decided that Harry and Hermione would take the half of the tree that faced the rest of the living room, while Jack and Miranda would do the half nearest the room corner, and each pair would take one bin.

As they were all looking through their bins, Hermione picked up a long strand of silver tinsel, while Harry picked up a similar gold strand. He dropped his hands as he looked at the tree, appearing as though he was pondering where it should go or even if he should place it on the tree at all, when she got a silly idea that she couldn’t resist.

She stepped up closer to him, causing him to drop his tinsel back in the bin and look at her in confusion. Trying to appear as serious as possible, she threw the silver tinsel over his head and around his neck. With his eyes looking downward, she began circling her right hand around him until that side of the tinsel was wrapped up almost fully around his neck. Then, she moved her left hand around his head twice and left the rest of that part free, hanging down to about the middle of his chest. He appeared as though he was wearing a shiny, silver scarf.

After he gave himself a once-over and looked back to her, she couldn’t keep from smirking as she said, “There, now you have a festive scarf for the holidays.”

The grin alighting his face at her statement was that of someone who was trying very hard to contain their laughter. Unbeknownst to the two of them, her parents stepped back and smiled perceptively at one another, with Jack giving Miranda a nod.

Then, Harry’s grin became what Hermione could only call more devilish. Picking up the gold tinsel, he positioned it almost where the top of her head met her forehead. Pulling it down against her head, he brought the ends underneath her hair before crossing them and tightening the tinsel. When his arms circled back to where they began, she could feel him begin to tie the ends like one would a shoelace. And after about a minute, she could tell he had reached the finish since he was pulling on the ends like one would when doing the bow.

Schooling his expression into a more serious one, though his mouth was still twitching from the laughter he was holding in, he replied, “And a festive bow headband for you.”

They both grinned at each other and lasted only a few seconds before bursting out with possibly the largest belly-laughs they’d ever given. Hermione leaned into Harry’s side and put her right arm around his waist to remain standing, while she felt Harry do the same with his left. They remained that way for a couple of minutes, and Hermione felt that her gut might actually burst from how hard she was laughing.

When they finally regained control of themselves and separated slightly, she looked up to Harry with a huge smile and found him beaming at her with the biggest smile she’d seen on his face in probably years. Remembering that her parents were still in the room, she turned to find them smiling happily at the scene, their expressions showing that they were glad for her and Harry having fun in any way they could.

Miranda then stepped up to them and placed a hand on their shoulders. “Well, now that you two are all decorated for Christmas, how about we get the tree just as ready?” Hermione and Harry both gave a sheepish grin and nod, remembering the task at hand.

For the next few hours, the tree decoration was a tranquil, happy affair. The four started by hanging up all the strings of Christmas lights around the tree. Then, they broke into their respective pairs and began putting up the ball ornaments. Hermione noticed that Harry was being fairly methodical, so she told him not to overthink it so much and that, as long as there weren’t any glaringly empty places on the tree, he should just place ornaments wherever it felt right. He gave her a slightly embarrassed smile and nod, and his pace started to increase after that. And when the body of the tree was filled with lights and ornaments, since the tree was seven feet tall, her father picked her up so that she could place the golden star on top, as was tradition when she was younger.

Finally, at three in the afternoon, the tree decorations were complete. After Jack hit the switch for the tree lights, the four stepped back to admire their work, watching the lights slowly flicker between their different colors amidst a rainbow of hanging ornaments.

When Hermione glanced at Harry to her right, the left corner of his mouth was curved just slightly in a half-smile, and his eyes had a gleam of joy as he stared at the tree. He appeared more content than she’d ever seen.

After another second, he turned his head to the left, as though he could sense her watching him. She was happy to see his smile grow a bit when their eyes locked.

She asked, “So, how was your first time decorating a tree?”

“It was good,” he answered. “Fun and relaxing. Well, mostly relaxing but with an instance of huge laughter. Can’t say I was expecting to become part of the decorations myself,” gesturing to the silver tinsel that was still wrapped around his neck.

Patting the gold tinsel on her own head, she replied, “Look at it this way. You gave as good as you got with that.” He gave her a full-on grin at that.

Then, Miranda said, “Oh, please don’t take those off yet. I brought my camera to originally get a photo of the tree when completed,” picking up a disposable camera that was laying on a bookcase shelf. “Could I get a picture of you two standing next to the tree? Harry, don’t feel obligated if you wouldn’t be comfortable with it, you can refuse if you want.”

Harry looked over to Hermione, who just shrugged her shoulders. While he’d been gradually losing some of his nervousness about being at her house, she still didn’t want to push him too quickly to do something where he wouldn’t be comfortable. It was enough that he’d taken her impulsive idea with the tinsel in stride, rather than becoming embarrassed at getting extra attention.

His answer, however, showed that maybe his timidity was disappearing more quickly than she originally thought. “I’ll do it if you will.” His eyes betrayed no fear, showing only a full trust in her.

Hermione looked to her mum and gave a half-smile. “Looks like you get your picture, Mum.”

“Oh, wonderful! Alright, I’ll stand here beside the coffee table, and you two go stand near the tree. I’ll direct you if your position doesn’t seem right.”

Doing as Miranda directed, Hermione ended up standing on Harry’s right side, and he was a few inches away from the tree, at a right diagonal in front of it. When Miranda said that their position was good, Hermione couldn’t help leaning into Harry’s side and putting her left arm around his waist. They glanced at one another and smiled before he then held her with his right arm. When they heard the click of the camera, they both blinked in confusion and turned, seeing Miranda wearing an embarrassed smile.

“Sorry,” she told them, “that was too good of a shot to pass up. Is one more alright, since you weren’t expecting that one?”

Harry looked to Hermione again, who simply gave him a nod. Then, he said, “Sure, Mrs. Granger. That sounds just fine.”

“Great! Alright then, face the camera this time.”

As her mum wound the camera up, Hermione squeezed her arm just a bit tighter around Harry. She felt him do the same with his right arm an instant later, though they both kept their heads facing toward the front this time.

Miranda then said, “Alright, are you ready?” When they nodded, she continued, “OK, say cheese!”

“Cheese!” They exclaimed the word at the same time, giving the biggest smiles they could, and then let their arms fall a couple of seconds after they heard the successful click of the camera.

“Thank you both,” Miranda said. “I’ll make sure to get these developed before you two go back to school. It’s always good to have a reminder of a happy memory, isn’t it?”

Jack, who had been sitting on the sofa watching events unfold, heartily agreed. “Yep, won’t hear any argument from me.”

Harry then surprised all of them when he quietly said, “Um, speaking of happy memories, could you maybe show me how your camera works, Mrs. Granger? Since I’m here, I could get a picture of the three of you at the tree, if you wouldn’t mind. That way, you have something recent where all of you are together.”

Hermione couldn’t believe that he was continuing to find ways to deepen her feelings for him, even if it was unknowingly so on his part. It was getting so much harder to stamp down the songs of temptation from her heart.

Looking to her parents, she saw them wearing the same wide-eyed expressions. Then, her dad rose from his seat and spoke. “We wouldn’t mind that at all, Harry. That sounds wonderful.”

As he moved to stand with Hermione at the tree, her mum beckoned Harry over and showed him the camera. “Now, here’s a little gear part, for lack of a better term, that you wind up by pushing it to the right with your thumb. When it won’t go any farther, you’re ready to take a picture, which you do by pushing in this button on the top-right side of the camera with your index finger. If you hear it click, then you got your picture. These little disposable cameras are simple. I always keep one in my purse since you never know when you’ll need one, or just want one for a special memory.”

Harry nodded and took the camera, winding it up as Miranda joined the other two at the tree. Hermione ended up being positioned in the middle, with Jack to her left and Miranda to her right. They all wrapped an arm around one another and waited for the signal from Harry.

He took a few seconds until he seemed to be satisfied with the camera’s position. He said, “Um, so… are you all ready?” When they silently nodded, he awkwardly continued. “OK then. So… say, cheese!”

The three of them gave huge smiles as they followed the order, and the click of a successful picture sounded a second later. When Harry lowered the camera, Hermione looked from her father to her mother. She felt such a surge of joy at the moment that she couldn’t resist turning herself around and wrapping them up in a full hug, feeling them wrap both of their arms around her as well. The family simply stood there, basking in happiness at the fact that they could have this moment after years of trouble and uncertainty.

After a few seconds, they heard another click. Looking over to Harry, he was holding the camera up and wearing a smirk on his face. As he dropped his arms, he then said, “I see what you mean about shots being too good to pass up.”

Hermione and her parents all laughed at having been caught unawares by him, and Harry joined in the laughter a second later. Yes, this would definitely be a day to always remember.

-O-

The rest of the day passed relatively calmly. Hermione and her parents spent some time talking about past Christmases, while Harry sat in the armchair and remained quiet, seemingly content just to listen. At one point, after Crookshanks walked into the living room and greeted everyone with a nuzzle, he jumped up into Harry’s lap and made himself comfortable for a nap. Hermione teased Harry about having taken control of her cat, to which he gave a sheepish grin and just shrugged.

Eventually, the time reached nine o’clock in the evening. Before her parents left for their room, they actually hit her with something unexpected.

“Hermione,” Jack said, “my side of the family was getting together at my parents’ house for all of this week, starting today. Since there’s talk on the weather about some snow arriving in the next few days, your mum and I figured we could just go there tomorrow afternoon and visit for a few hours before coming back home, since it takes about two hours to drive there. Would you want to tag along, or would you rather stay home with Harry? Assuming you wouldn’t wish to go if the three of us did, Harry.”

Harry timidly responded, “Would it really be alright if I stayed here, Mr. and Mrs. Granger? I _would_ rather not have to deal with a bunch of strangers that might ask questions that I don’t want to answer.”

Jack replied, “Of course, Harry, that’s perfectly fine. So, Hermione, the question flips back to you.”

Hermione was quite conflicted. On one hand, it would be nice to go since she never saw her grandparents very often, especially so after starting at Hogwarts. On the other… she didn’t want Harry to be alone.

When she looked over to him, his expression turned completely serious at the question that was probably obvious in her eyes. He gently picked up Crookshanks and set him back down in the armchair before walking over and sitting next to her on the sofa. After a few seconds, Harry quietly spoke to her.

“You should go see them, Hermione, especially if it’s been a long while since the last time you may have. I’ll be fine, it’s OK.”

She knew he was right, but his words reminded her so much of those from when he left Australia that she couldn’t hide the pain in her eyes. She knew he had seen it since his brow furrowed in concern an instant later, even if he didn’t know exactly what she was thinking. Before he could say anything more, however, she blurted out the question on her mind, not giving a damn that her parents were right behind her and witnessing the entire scene.

“Promise me that you’ll still be here when we get back? That you won’t leave?”

Harry’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open a slight amount, in recognition of what was driving her pain. Unbeknownst to her, her parents looked at one another with sadness at how that night had affected Hermione deeply enough that she felt it necessary to ask such a thing.

But then, Harry’s expression became determined. Taking both of her hands in his, he gave a vow. “I promise, on everything that our friendship is, that I won’t leave the house and will be here when you return. And I’m so sorry that my actions on that night still hurt you to this day.”

Giving his hands a squeeze, she apologetically replied, “No, it’s OK. I understood why you left, even if it hurt at the time. And I’m sorry if my flashback to that time is making you think that I have no faith in you. I do trust you, Harry. I just… I guess I just needed to hear the words.”

“I can understand that,” he said. Then, his eyes glanced at their hands for a second before he quietly continued. “I’ll go with you, if you want me to.”

Hermione shook her head. “No, go ahead and stay here. You’re right that you would most likely get lots of questions, and the whole point of this break is to let you have some peace and quiet. I’ll be alright going with Mum and Dad.” She gave him a small smile, trying to tell him that everything really was OK between them. He seemed to get it, as he gave a half-smile and nodded before letting go of her hands.

At that point, Miranda walked over and put a hand on their shoulders. She softly asked, “Well, what do you say we all head upstairs and get some rest for the night?”

Hermione replied, “Yeah, alright Mum.”

Harry didn’t say anything, but simply followed her lead as she stood from the sofa. They all walked upstairs one by one. Hermione and Harry said good night to her parents at the door of the master bedroom, and the two of them went into the bathroom to brush their teeth. And a few minutes later, they were standing at the junction of their rooms, staring at one another.

Not wanting to end the night on a terrible note, she said, “I hope what just happened in the living room didn’t ruin the day for you.”

“No, not at all,” he instantly replied. “It was great getting to actually decorate a tree myself, and I know I’ll never forget our silliness with the tinsel.” He grinned at that, and it was infectious enough that she followed suit. But then, his expression turned serious again, and he said, “And…”

He paused, and his nervousness was evident as he ran a hand through his messy black hair. After a few seconds, she said, “It’s OK, you can tell me.”

He nodded before timidly whispering, “I had a good time… sitting on the sofa with you and reading that book together.”

If he kept this up, the temptations from her heart were very quickly going to become a constant, no matter how hard she resisted. While she tried to push down their allure, she couldn’t stop a beaming smile from reaching her face as she said, “Well, I’m glad. Maybe… we can do that again, or something else that you might enjoy. As long as we’re having fun together, I won’t care what we do.”

He smiled and sheepishly responded, “Yeah, that… I’d like that.”

She nodded, and they both just let the silence hold for a few seconds as they gazed at one another. It was broken when they heard a pitter-patter of feet, and they looked away to see Crookshanks trotting down the hall. When he reached them, he gave a nuzzle to Hermione first and Harry second before then darting into Hermione’s room.

Hermione, looking back to Harry, then said with a bit of sadness, “I guess we should head to bed, then, if that was any indication.”

Harry reluctantly nodded and said, “Yeah, guess so. Well… good night, Hermione.”

As he started to turn to his room, she gave into one of her temptations and blurted, “Wait.”

He turned back around with a look of concern, but she continued before he could say a word. “Since you didn’t have any nightmares last night, well… maybe this will help again.” She then leaned in and gave him the same kiss to his cheek as she’d done the previous night.

Pulling away and seeing his eyes just as wide as then, her last words to him were, “Sleep well, Harry.” Then, she stepped backwards into her room and closed the door, leaving just enough of a crack open that Crookshanks could slip out if he wanted to leave.

After Hermione changed into her pajamas, turned off her room light, and crawled beneath the bed covers, she let out a deep sigh. And she thought there was even a possibility of going close to two weeks without confessing her feelings to Harry. At the rate that he was completely melting her heart, and the fact that the hours in which they sat and read together were basically a date, she would be lucky to last even a few more days.

But… she trusted Harry. She had to keep her faith in him, above all else. As long as she did that, hopefully things would turn out such that she would at least keep his close friendship. And if she was lucky, if his reaction regarding the time spent together that day might be any indication, maybe they could have something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, this story definitely won't be finished before Christmas itself. I still have three days of work this week before my Christmas vacation starts, but hopefully I can get a lot more writing done then since I took the entire next week off as vacation time.
> 
> I hope the bit of Christmas silliness in this chapter was enjoyable. That was probably my favorite bit here, since it put a smile on my face even while I was writing it.
> 
> To everyone that has made it this far, thank you for reading! And if I can't get any more chapters posted this week, I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays!


	4. Can't Lose You

It was close to nine o’clock the next morning. Hermione and her parents were preparing to leave and visit her paternal extended family.

Her parents were upstairs at the moment, having waited until after breakfast to take fresh showers just before the three of them would leave. Hermione had already taken her normal one when she woke up. Thus, all she needed was her purse, which she had with her in the living room while waiting.

She was sitting in the middle of the sofa with Crookshanks in her lap, petting him as he purred away in comfort. Harry was sitting about half a foot to her left, holding the television remote as he flipped through the channels. He would stop at every channel for a minute or so before moving to the next one, like he was getting a taste of everything that was available since he actually had a chance to do so. Occasionally, his eyes would grow a bit wider and he would barely nod if he found something that seemed interesting to him, making her smile in her mind at how the simplest things could sometimes be the most enjoyable. The memory of reading with him yesterday flashing within her head only added more support for that thought.

All too soon, the tranquility of the moment was disturbed by a pair of footsteps in the hall, and then her mum and dad appeared in the doorway. Hermione picked up Crookshanks, who gave her an annoyed look as she put him down to her right before standing from the sofa. Harry, realizing that she and her parents would soon depart, turned off the TV and stood as well.

Miranda looked at Harry and said, “Well, Harry, the house is yours for the afternoon. I know you mentioned that you knew how to cook, so feel free to look through the kitchen for anything you want to eat for lunch. But Jack and I also left twenty pounds on the kitchen counter, if you might like to call the numbers for any one of the businesses listed on this,” at which she handed him a notecard. “They’ll deliver to the house if you give them the address, which I wrote on the other side of this card. In fact, just so you know, the Chinese restaurant is the first one listed, since you so enjoyed takeout that first night.”

Harry blushed but flipped the card around and nodded upon verifying the information was there. Then, looking to both parents, he said, “Thank you for being so gracious, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. I know that not many parents would be willing to let even a friend of their child be alone in their house.”

Jack clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder and said, “Think of it as our way of showing that we trust you.”

Harry quietly replied, “I promise I won’t let you down.”

Miranda then suddenly interjected, “There is one thing you could do for us before we leave.” When Harry looked questioningly at her, she continued, “Try out our first names. We appreciate how greatly polite you’ve been, but remember the first night how I said you needn’t worry about being so formal?”

Harry seemed hesitant for a few seconds, but then it washed away as he said, “Alright then… Miranda, Jack. Thank you again for being so accommodating while I’m here.”

He received a nod from both of them before Miranda responded, “You’re welcome, Harry.”

Hermione had just been hanging back, watching the entire scene. Her mum, after replying to Harry, then looked to her. “We’ll give you two a minute alone. Jack and I will be waiting out front whenever you’re ready, sweetheart.” Hermione silently nodded, and then she heard her parents disappear out the front door.

Harry turned around to face her. The reluctant expression on his face was probably how she also appeared to him right now. Wanting to show her trust in him after last night, she stepped up to him and took his hands in hers. At the question growing in his eyes, she began to talk.

“My room is open to you. Feel free to look around and see if anything in there will interest you while we’re gone. I know it’s basically nothing but books, but the offer is there if you want it.”

Harry’s gaze went soft as he replied, “Thank you. It… it means a lot that you trust me.” His eyes flicked down and to the left for a second before locking onto her eyes again. “I’ll still go, if you want. I won’t mind going for you.”

She shook her head but gave him a smile. “No, it’s OK. But thank you for offering.” She then pulled him into a hug. Rather than being one of her crushing hugs, this one was more of a gentle embrace. He quickly reciprocated, and the two stood there in silence for a few seconds.

Hermione was the one to pull back. When they separated, she grabbed her purse. Looking at him one last time, she said, “Enjoy yourself, Harry.”

His quiet response was, “You too, Hermione.”

She then walked out into the hall, locking the front door before she shut it behind her as she left the house.

Her parents were waiting by the car and looked up when they heard the door open and close. She walked up to them and just said, “I’m ready.” They nodded, and everyone quickly piled into the car, with Hermione getting in the back seat on the driver’s side behind her father. And soon enough, the journey to see her grandparents had begun.

After a few minutes of silence, Hermione grew suspicious. Normally, they would all talk to one another in car rides. Even if she remained silent, her parents would have a conversation with each other. And in the times that they all wanted to be quiet, the radio would at least be playing. The fact that the only sound in the air was the engine of the car had her feeling as though her parents wanted to talk about something serious. Figuring she knew what the subject was going to be, she just decided to rip the bandage off and find out if she was right.

“Alright, you’re both being silent and not playing the radio. I know you’re trying to gear up to talk about something, which I assume relates to Harry since he isn’t here.”

Jack and Miranda took a quick glance at each other before she turned around as much as possible in her seat to face Hermione. “Not necessarily. It’s more that we’re worried about _you_. Are you alright? We both know that you trust Harry, just going by how you fought so hard for him after he left in the summer. That’s why we were surprised at your sudden question last night, and saddened about how that night in Australia might still be affecting you.”

At least they hadn’t started by full-on blaming Harry, Hermione thought. She heaved a sigh and looked out the car window before replying. “It was his words. When he talked about being with family after having not seen them for a long time, his words felt so similar to what he said in Australia that I couldn’t help flashing back there for a moment. And it terrified me so much that I blurted out that question.”

She turned her gaze to the front, knowing that the downcast expression on her face would be quite obvious. “The worst part about it, Mum, is that there was no reason for me to ask that. Even if Harry _was_ actually going to leave, he never would have just left while everyone else was away, nor would he abandon me in the middle of the night without a word. He would have told me outright what he would be doing, like he did in Australia. I feel like I could have jeopardized my friendship with him because of that question, let alone the hopes of anything more, if not for the fact that Harry is so bloody noble that he blamed himself first.”

Hermione looked out the window again, the weight of what her words last night could have done finally sinking in. A minute later, she was confused when they started slowing down, and her father pulled the car into a parking lot. Her mother got out but immediately climbed into the back and buckled up in the middle seat. Then, the car was moving, and they were back on the road again.

Miranda put a comforting hand on Hermione’s shoulder and said, “Shouldn’t that put you more at ease, then? The fact that he took your question seriously and didn’t blame you for asking it?”

“Not to mention that declaration he gave,” Jack added from the front. “We know he greatly values your friendship by being willing to face us again just because you asked him to. At the train platform, we could see how terrified he was, but he still came for you. So, for him to make a vow on your friendship… even I can tell that the boy thinks the world of you.”

Hermione gave her parents a wistful smile, though her dad couldn’t see from driving. Then, after her mum pulled her hand away, Hermione replied, “Well, you know how my mind works, and I worry about things. But I know you’re right, because when Harry and I arrived at the junction of our rooms last night, I couldn’t help but say to him that I hoped I hadn’t ruined his day. He didn’t hesitate even for an instant when he told me that it didn’t, before immediately going into how much fun he had with decorating the tree and our shenanigans with the tinsel. And…”

She trailed off, unable to help getting momentarily lost in the joy brought forth from the memory of simply sitting next to Harry on the sofa and reading a book with him. Her feelings must have shown through in her expression, because she was brought back to reality when she heard her mother’s voice.

“Sorry, Jack. Looks like you’re going to have to listen to girl talk, because I’m not passing up this chance.”

A chuckle emanated from the driver’s seat. “Not like I could stop you even if I wanted to, Miranda.”

Miranda looked at Hermione with an almost eager expression and said, “Alright girl, whatever it was that gave you that lovey-dovey expression, spill it.”

Hermione fired back, “You’ll probably just be disappointed.”

Miranda only raised an eyebrow, an indication that she was waiting for the information, so Hermione sighed and began the story. “Well, Harry and I went into the living room after breakfast yesterday. I was afraid that, since I usually read books in my spare time, he might think things are too boring around me.”

Her mum gave her a sympathetic look at the last statement. Hermione pushed on before they could linger on that bit.

“I started rambling about things that he could do which wouldn’t involve books. But then, he interrupted me and asked about the book I had been reading that morning. As I told him about it, and about my eagerness for learning even from a young age, Harry confided in me some things that he wished had been different about his childhood, which I _refuse_ to get into without his explicit permission.” She gave her mother a stern look, and Miranda just nodded and held her hands up in surrender for a second before gesturing for Hermione to continue.

“After that and some other things he said, I realized that I was keeping him talking about more depressing subjects instead of letting him have the peace that I wanted for him, so I told him that he didn’t have to hang around me anymore. But then…”

When Hermione thought about the memory this time, she felt a few happy tears rising in her eyes, and she quickly kept speaking so that her mum wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “Then, he actually asked, in a very awkward but adorable way, if we could sit and read the book together. When I asked if he really wanted to do that, he nodded and said that it was something which I enjoyed, and that he didn’t want me to feel like I needed to change myself just because he was staying with us.”

Miranda’s eyes grew larger, and her mouth slowly opened in a wide smile. From the front, Jack couldn’t help asking in amazement, “Did he really say that?”

Giggling a bit in her mind from the fact that her father was now getting actively involved in the conversation, Hermione joyfully replied, “He really did, Dad. And so, we sat there for those hours on the sofa, reading the book. It felt so much like an actual date, even though we weren’t really doing anything. He even let me link our fingers together when I moved to hold his hand after a while. And the part that I trailed off on when I was telling you earlier about the end of last night… after he mentioned the decorating, though he grew very nervous, he confessed that he had fun reading the book with me. I can’t begin to express how much it made my heart flutter. And when I said that maybe we could do that again, or something else together that he might enjoy, he smiled and replied that he would like that. Then, I gave him a kiss on the cheek, and I went to my room to end the night.”

Finally coming to the end of her story, Hermione looked back to her mum, who appeared to be so elated that she looked like she was trying very hard to suppress squeals of joy.

Hermione couldn’t see her dad’s reaction, but she sure could hear the wonder in his voice when he spoke. “Even if I wanted to hate the young man, or even if I’d hated him as you started telling that story, I don’t think I could muster any urge to dislike him after hearing such a thing. Any man who will say that you don’t have to change for them to accept you… if he’s willing to take your relationship beyond friendship, then you’ve got yourself a keeper in my book, Hermione.”

Miranda then grabbed Hermione in as much of a hug as the seatbelts would allow. “Oh sweetheart, I’m so happy that you’re finding happiness, especially after every ordeal you’ve suffered over the years.”

When they separated, Hermione replied with a bit of skepticism. “Easy there, Mum. While I am happy how things are going, Harry and I aren’t actually together right now. And it’s more important to me that, after everything he’s been through, especially this year, he can get some peace of mind, even if that’s just for this holiday break. I don’t want to weigh him down with something else so soon.”

Her mum gave a piercing stare, as though she was looking into Hermione’s very soul, before asking one question. “And what if knowing that you feel something more for him _does_ give him that peace and happiness, Hermione?”

Hermione’s mind went blank, and she had no clue how to respond. She looked down to the floor, not seeing the concerned glance her father shot to her in the rearview mirror, nor the worry on her mother’s face.

She felt a hand on her shoulder again, causing her to look up. Her mum then gently said, “Tell me, how much thinking did you do about your idea to bring Harry home with you before you told him?”

While Hermione was confused, she replied, “None at all, really. Harry told me about not having a family to celebrate this Christmas with now that the war was over, and it made me think about your letter and how you and Dad asked about Harry. At that point, I didn’t stop to think and just immediately uttered that he should come with me for the holidays, and I was obviously able to persuade him.”

Her mum gave her a soft smile before responding. “That means you listened to your heart rather than thinking with your head. And even if it’s only been a few days, look how far things have come since then, for both you and Harry. Maybe for this situation with your feelings, you should try listening to your heart a little more.”

Hermione became thoughtful at the statement. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she did need to take more heed of the words from her heart. Coming out of her thoughts, she leaned forward and gave her mum a hug. “I’ll try. Thank you, Mum.”

The response was a quiet, “Anytime, Little Worm.”

A few minutes later, Jack pulled off into another parking lot to allow Miranda to sit back in the front seat. After doing so, Hermione had one request for her parents while the car was idle. “Mum, Dad… please don’t say anything about this to the rest of the family just yet? I want things to have a chance to play out first.”

Jack replied, “Won’t say a word, I promise.”

“And I promise, as well,” Miranda added.

Hermione gave a nod and said, “Thank you both.”

As the journey to her grandparents’ house grew a bit lighter after that, with her parents talking to one another now that the previous conversation was over, she hoped that everything would turn out such that both she and Harry would find happiness.

-O-

In the Granger household, at about four o’clock in the afternoon, Harry was currently lying on the bed in the guest room, staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. Since Hermione and her parents had left, he’d spent most of his time reading more of the encyclopedia book that he and Hermione had read together the previous day. He’d stopped for lunch about an hour ago when his stomach growled and brought him out of the prehistoric world he was perusing. He ate a simple ham sandwich with an orange, not wanting to cook something more extravagant without the family being there. He also hadn’t felt comfortable enough to use the money Miranda and Jack had left for him, even though he _had_ been sorely tempted to call and order some delivered Chinese food.

He gave a snort at his last thought. For all his trepidations, he apparently was already comfortable enough with calling Hermione’s parents by their first names in his mind after Miranda had asked him to that morning. That’s something he would never in a million years have thought would happen, even after he’d explicitly been given the permission two nights ago. Of course, he owed the courage that allowed him to do so all to Hermione, who’d been fretting so much about him since she’d found him in the Gryffindor common room. If there were any actions he could take to be on great terms with her parents, then he would take them.

Hermione…

He couldn’t help heaving a sigh at coming back to the reason he was lying on the bed. His quick lunch had given him time to start thinking on things, and every one of his thoughts had led straight to Hermione. Of course, that had been happening in some manner for a longer period than he’d let on.

He’d told Hermione that the nights where he went straight to the common room were always the worst nightmares. What she didn’t know, however, was that his worst nightmares were _always_ about her. The Department of Mysteries, only Neville doesn’t find any pulse at all. Malfoy Manor, only he listens to, or sometimes even has to watch, Bellatrix torture her to death. The clearing where he met Riddle in the Forbidden Forest, only Hermione had tried to follow him, got captured, and then gets murdered in front of him before Riddle does the same to Harry.

They didn’t even have to involve her dying, but rather her not believing in him or staying at his side. A dream of fourth year, where even she refuses to think that he didn’t enter himself into the Triwizard Tournament. One of the Horcrux hunt, where she goes with Ron and leaves Harry all alone for the rest of his short life. One after Riddle is dead, where she says that she’s tired of being in dangerous situations now that the war is over and then says goodbye forever. And then there were many nightmares where she would be one of the voices, if not the loudest voice, telling him that his only purpose in life had been fulfilled.

Harry couldn’t help shaking his head at his thoughts. He kept her at arm’s length all year regarding his issues because he hadn’t wanted to burden her with anything else after the war, and he’d only made her worry more and more by doing so. Is it any wonder why he’d thought Hermione should have deserted him long ago, even though it was the last thing he wanted?

But she never did, and he thanked the heavens profusely that she possessed enough tenacity to keep trying to get him to talk. If she hadn’t just happened to come down to the common room three nights ago, and hadn’t pleaded with him to open up to her and finally cracked the shell that he’d placed around himself, he wasn’t sure how he would have lasted all alone up at Hogwarts. Somehow, the touch of her hand combined with her desperate begging had broken all of his restraint and made him finally confess about how lost he felt with the war over.

At that thought, Harry brought his hands out in front of his face and stared at them for a few seconds before placing them back behind his head. Hermione had been so much more affectionate ever since he opened up to her that night. Whenever their conversation would take a serious turn, she would gently hold one or even both of his hands. And he had to admit… her touch was almost like a salve for his entire soul, because the action was a reassurance to him that she was here, still at his side even through all of his problems. It wouldn’t surprise him if she’d already picked up on that, considering that she was able to notice the disbelief that he’d tried to hide in his tone about sleeping well.

And that wasn’t even going into the kisses…

He instinctually brought his left hand to the spot on his cheek where she kissed him before bed the last two nights, and he held it there for about ten seconds before returning the hand to its original position. He still felt a little shocked not only that she had done it at all, but also that it had happened two nights in a row. And as for the kisses themselves, they felt tender, caring… loving.

While it remained to be seen how long this reprieve from his nightmares would last, Harry was sure that her increased affection, along with her pledge on the train about never giving up on him, was why the perpetual nightmares had disappeared for the last two nights. Maybe his subconscious was beginning to believe that there might still be a single place where he belonged, even if he didn’t truly know what he wanted to do with his life.

There was, however, one thought that now occupied his mind. While he possibly had a place beside Hermione in his future… was that place as just a friend, or something more? Was Hermione only trying to be comforting to him as a close friend, given the issues he’d revealed? Or was she really trying to tell him that she felt more for him than just friendship?

And if she did feel that way, would he be willing to take the risk with her for a deeper relationship?

Harry couldn’t stop the scoff that left his mouth. There probably couldn’t have been a more stupid question in the universe. Hermione was his best friend, the one person to never let him down, even if she now thought differently on the latter regarding both their sixth year at Hogwarts as well as the summer after fourth year. She had been completely willing to die at his side. And now, all she wanted was for him to be happy.

Even if he just used a friendship standpoint, he already knew that he cared for her, trusted her, and wanted her to be happy as well. And yesterday, he basically asked her out on a date when he brought up reading the book together. Her response at the end of the night that they could do something like that again gave him the warmest feeling of joy he probably ever experienced. So, if Hermione did actually have deeper feelings for him, there was nothing in the universe that would get him to reject her.

“ _If_ she does feel that way,” Harry said out loud, somewhat dejectedly. Because that was the largest unknown in the equation. With everything that had happened in the war and since, and how he easily could or _should_ be completely alone right now with how he’d pushed everyone away, he wasn’t sure he was brave enough to risk asking Hermione directly about her feelings. Even just having her friendship, after all that happened, was a precious thing. He was in no position to ask more from her, especially when she was already trying to do whatever she could to pull him out of his anguish stemming from not knowing where to go in life after the war.

“Be happy with what you have right now,” he murmured. “Be happy that she said she’ll never give up on you, which means you’ll at least always have her as a friend, since Hermione wouldn’t lie to you. And if you can finally get rid of this funk that you’re in, and she’s still around… well, maybe then we’ll see what happens.”

Harry shifted to lie on his left side, facing the wall. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to convince himself of his own words.

When he opened his eyes after some time, he sat up in fright and looked all around, with his blood beginning to run cold.

He wasn’t in the bedroom at Hermione’s house. He was at the King’s Cross Station platform.

Standing up and trying to keep his breathing calm, he said, “This can’t be real. I’m at Hermione’s house right now, waiting for her to come home. This has to be a dream.”

“Does it matter if it is?”

He instantly turned around at the sound of the voice, and a pit started growing in his stomach. He hadn’t imagined it.

Hermione was standing there, a flat expression on her face.

Harry had no idea how to respond, but he didn’t have a chance to try since she continued speaking. “Some people say that dreams can be a way for our subconscious to send us messages that we wouldn’t realize or are deliberately ignoring. So, if this is a dream, what do you think the message might be?”

He closed his eyes, shook his head, and muttered, “Wake up. Please wake up. You need to wake up.” But when he opened his eyes, nothing had changed. He was still standing on the train platform, staring at Hermione.

She frowned slightly as she told him, “Or maybe it isn’t a dream. Maybe we’re both dead after you gave yourself up in the Forbidden Forest, and King’s Cross is our way of moving on to the afterlife. And all that you thought took place after that event was just a series of flashing images in your mind as you were about to die. But that wouldn’t really change the idea that your mind is trying to tell you something, would it?”

Hermione then hardened her expression and stepped up until she was just inches away. “And I think I know what that something is. The message is… what makes you think that you will _always_ have a place at my side, let alone being there as more than a friend?”

He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, as her harsh words sank in. He had to fight this, but his voice quivered when he responded. “You told me that I was important to you, and that you would never give up on me. And you would never lie to me.”

Still looking at him almost as if he was an enemy, she replied, “Forever is a long time, Harry. And everything has a breaking point. How can you be certain that I will never reach that point, even when everyone else you know already has?”

Realistically, he knew there was no denial he could give. But he was desperately trying to hold onto the last vestiges of his willpower in order to keep from breaking down, though the tears rising in his eyes were an easy indication that he was very much losing that fight. “I… I have to believe it. Because if I lost even your friendship, I don’t know what I would do.”

She gave him what he could only call a cold smirk. “And that’s really what it comes down to, isn’t it? You’re still that lost, little boy that doesn’t know the reason why he’s trying to continue forward in life. Especially so now that the one thing you were born and raised to do is finished. That’s probably why you’re clinging onto me so badly, isn’t it? You’re more dependent on me than I am on you, so how can you be sure that whatever you feel is genuine?”

Harry closed his eyes and lowered his head. Tears finally began to stream down his face as he thought about Hermione’s statements. He couldn’t refute the argument about his reliance on her. She could survive without him, but he would never survive without her.

He heard her say, “Harry,” but he didn’t move a muscle. He was too afraid to look at her when she spoke whatever else was on her mind.

“Harry!” This time, her call was an exclamation… and more concerned.

Then, there was a hand on his arm, which began to shake him. “Harry, please wake up!”

Suddenly, he felt himself falling backwards, but instead of hitting the hard ground when his body was nearly horizontal, he felt a soft surface beneath him. His eyes jerked open, and he instinctually sat up. When he turned his head, he found himself staring into a pair of frightened, chocolate eyes.

-O-

The three Grangers pulled into their driveway right after six o’clock that evening. The return trip ended up being an hour longer than the drive from earlier that morning thanks to some heavy holiday traffic. While Hermione was happy to have seen her paternal grandparents, aunts, and uncles, she couldn’t help being glad about arriving home. She had never felt comfortable enough to tell the rest of the family about her magic, since there was no way of knowing how they would react or if they would even keep that knowledge secret. Thus, she was always somewhat on pins and needles whenever any of them asked her about her school life.

Not to mention… she really would rather spend this holiday break with Harry.

After her dad unlocked and opened the front door, she rushed in ahead of him and shouted, “Harry! We’re home!”

Ignoring the chuckles from her parents behind her, she looked in the living room and only found Crookshanks lying on the sofa. In fact, Harry wasn’t on the first floor at all. A spark of fear rose within her. It wasn’t that she was afraid he had left. He had promised her that he wouldn’t leave the house, and Hermione had faith in that promise. No, her anxiety was being driven by a single question.

What if something terrible had happened, and she wasn’t here to help him?

When she reached the second floor, she called out again, “ _Harry!_ We’re here!” She waited a few seconds, but there wasn’t a single sound made in response that she could hear.

Hermione’s terror began to grow. He had to be alright, he just _had_ to be. She pulled out her wand and decided to check every room as she went down the hall. He was nowhere to be found in her parents’ room, and she could tell he wasn’t in the hall bathroom since the door was wide open. But when she got to the junction of his room and hers, she found that his door was just barely cracked open.

Not wanting to take any chances in case this was some kind of trap, she stepped as quietly as she could to his door. Putting her left hand at the doorknob, she took a deep breath and counted to three in her head. Then, she grabbed the doorknob and entered the room as quickly as possible, pointing her wand ahead as she crossed the threshold. To her great relief, a quick scan of the room revealed only Harry lying on the bed, seemingly asleep since he hadn’t responded to her unsubtle entry, so she put her wand back in her jacket.

Fear quickly washed over her again, however, as she began walking towards him. His face appeared to be contorted in pain. And when she was standing next to the bed, her heart broke when she saw the streams of tears flowing down his cheeks.

He was trapped in a nightmare. She had to pull him out somehow.

“Harry,” she said, trying to see if he would waken with just her voice, but he never moved or seemed like he heard.

“Harry!” She called out a little louder, but still to no avail. Well, regardless of whatever reaction she may face, he needed her right now. And if her touch had helped get him to open up to her about the issues that had been plaguing him, then maybe it could help to pull him out of whatever nightmare he was in.

Putting her hand on his right arm, she began to shake him. As she did so, she cried out with a tremble in her voice, “Harry, please wake up!”

His face twitched for a moment before his eyes flew wide open, and he instantly sat up afterwards, gasping for breath. When he finally looked over at her, she could feel her heart ripping further apart at the absolute terror in his expression, as though he was afraid of her reaction about something.

He shifted his position so that he could throw his legs over the side of the bed and rest his feet on the carpet, but he remained sitting, leaning forward a bit with his arms on his knees and his head hanging low. Hermione sat on his left side, desperately wanting to comfort him. She took hold of his left hand and laced their fingers together. He glanced at their linked hands but only for a second, turning his gaze back to the floor afterwards as he continued to take unsteady breaths.

While this was probably the most stupid question she could ever ask, she had to start the conversation out somehow, and this would only require a one-word answer. “Was it one of your nightmares?”

Though his gaze never moved from the floor, he gave her a short nod.

She squeezed his hand a bit tighter and then hesitantly asked, “Do you… want to talk about it?”

His eyes closed in agony, stoking every one of her fears and worries. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head. With a quiver in every word, he choked out, “Please, Hermione. Please not now. It… it’s too fresh. Please… can I just have time to myself to calm down?”

His nightmare involved her, she deduced. It had to, if he was so frightened about how she might react if she knew what happened. She felt another stab of pain in her heart that he might think that he can’t confide in her about whatever happened to him in the dream.

Still, she wouldn’t push him right now. All she could do is remind him that she was always here for him.

Remembering the conversation with her parents in the car, Hermione decided to try listening to her heart. Reaching over with her left hand, she placed it on his right cheek, causing his eyes to fly open and his posture to straighten. Then, she guided his head until his despair-filled emerald eyes were locked onto her.

After a second, she tenderly whispered, “I told you on the train that I would never ask more from you than what you were willing to give, and I still stand by those words. Just know that, if you ever do feel ready to talk about what happened, I’m always here.” Then, she leaned up and placed a soft kiss to the scar on his forehead. Though the pain didn’t leave his expression, she could see his eyes soften just a bit.

Hermione let go of his cheek and unlinked her right hand from him, as she moved to stand up. When she turned to the doorway, however, she stopped when she saw her parents watching from the entrance, their anxious expressions plainly obvious. She figured she might be in for a talk when they all left.

As she began walking to the doorway, she stopped when Harry called out, “Wait!”

She went back and sat next to him before quietly saying, “What is it, Harry?”

He took a deep breath, obviously preparing for something, and replied, “Tomorrow… I’ll tell you tomorrow. I don’t know exactly when, but I promise it will be tomorrow.”

“Harry,” she said with concern, “you don’t need to push yourself to talk if you aren’t ready.”

“No, Hermione, I want to. I don’t…”

He glanced away when he trailed off and took another deep breath. When he looked back at her, a flicker of hope took root within her at seeing a hint of determination in his expression as he continued. “I don’t want to shut you out like I’ve done all year, especially after how you’ve gone out of your way to help me. I trust you, Hermione, and I want to show that. So, even though I don’t think I can handle discussing everything tonight, that’s why I’m giving you a promise that I’ll tell you after a little time to compose myself.”

Unable to fight the small smile that grew on her face, she leaned in and embraced him, feeling his arms hug her the same way an instant later. Then, she whispered into his ear, “Then whenever you feel ready tomorrow, I’ll be waiting. And thank you for trusting me.”

Harry didn’t say anything, but he squeezed her just a little tighter for a couple of seconds before pulling back. There was still hurt in his eyes, but the tiny smile he gave her strengthened her hope that he’d begun dragging himself out of the depths where his nightmare had placed him.

She stood from the bed again, but before walking away, she asked in a voice loud enough that she knew her parents would hear from the doorway, “Have you had any dinner yet? Do you want me to bring up something for you?”

He shook his head and replied, “No, that’s alright. I’m not very hungry right now, especially since I ate a late lunch just a few hours ago. But thank you for offering. I’m just going to stay up here. I’ve got my school books in my trunk if I get bored later.”

Hermione tenderly said, “Well, alright then. But if you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to come find me.”

He simply responded, “Thank you, Hermione.”

Sensing the conversation had reached its end, she turned and walked to her parents, and Harry didn’t try to stop her this time. She gestured to her parents that they should leave, but they spoke to Harry first.

“Harry,” Miranda gently called out, “if there’s anything at all that Jack or I can do for you, please let us know.”

Jack added, “While we know that you trust Hermione and would go to her first, we want you to know that the offer is still there.”

Harry’s shy reply was, “Thank you both. I, I appreciate that a lot.”

With that, the three Grangers left the room, and Hermione smiled at him one last time before she closed the door behind her.

Not a word was said as the three of them walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Hermione and Jack sat down at the table, while Miranda walked over to the oven and turned it on to heat up. She then pulled out a pizza from the freezer and a pizza pan from the cabinet, setting them on the counter before then taking her own seat at the table. The silence continued to hold until the oven beeped, to which Miranda opened up the pizza and then placed it into the oven.

As she sat back down, she was the first to speak. “I can’t imagine what could have frightened Harry into such a state that he was afraid to even tell you, Hermione.”

Not moving her gaze from the table, Hermione flatly replied, “His nightmare was something to do with me, Mum. It had to be.”

Jack asked, “What makes you so sure?”

She looked up and locked eyes with her father. “Because, Dad, when he said that he wasn’t yet ready to talk, it was like he was afraid of how I would react if I learned about what happened. But when I reiterated to him that I would always be here for him, that seemed to give him the strength to want to open up, even if it’s not tonight. Whether it was me dying or something else, I _know_ that I had to have been involved in some manner.”

Jack shook his head and sighed. “That damned war you two were forced into, and all the other tragedies throughout his life. The young man deserves better than the lot he’s been given.”

Miranda reached over and grabbed her husband’s hand. “Well, we’ve let him know that we’re all here for him. And I know that if anyone can help him out of his pain, it’ll be our Little Worm,” looking over to Hermione at the last bit.

Hermione didn’t say anything, simply praying in her mind that her mother would be correct.

The rest of the evening was quiet. They saved two pieces of pizza for Harry to have later or tomorrow. And after dinner, Hermione went up to her room to read, or at least try to, until bedtime. She left her door open in case she stayed up here until her parents went to bed, or if Harry might need anything. His door had still been closed when she arrived, so she hoped that he was OK.

The thought of Harry made her start recalling the memory of reading with him on the sofa, and an idea popped into her head. She began checking her bookshelves for a certain set of books. Not finding them, she opened up her closet and went to the two boxes sitting in the back. She meticulously dug through, hoping that she hadn’t lost those books. She didn’t want to have to do a Summoning Charm without giving fair warning to her parents to be out of the way in case the books were in an odd location.

About halfway through the second box, she found exactly what she was looking for and quietly exclaimed, “Yes!” They were the remaining three books of her history set that she’d talked about with Harry. If he had enjoyed reading the Mesozoic Era book, maybe he would like starting from the very beginning, whether he did it together with her or on his own. She placed the books on her desk so that she would easily be able to find them later.

After that, believing that her mind wouldn’t be able to truly focus on any book to read, she simply lied down on her bed. Gazing up at the ceiling, she lost herself in memories of Harry since their friendship began that Halloween night in 1991. Time must have passed more quickly than she realized, as the next thing she was aware of was her parents knocking on her door. They told her that they were heading to bed and said to let them know if she or Harry needed anything. She nodded and said good night, and her parents walked off towards their room.

Looking up at her clock, Hermione saw that it was about nine-thirty, so she decided to try and sleep as well. Before that, however, she had to check on Harry. After the earlier events of the evening, she couldn’t go to bed without first knowing that he was alright.

Going up to Harry’s door, she opened it as quietly as she could and found the room shrouded in darkness. Slipping in and pushing the door almost all the way closed so that no light would shine in, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness before looking towards the bed. Harry was asleep, lying on his right side. While his face was nowhere near as pained as it had been when she burst in earlier that evening, he did still appear to be tense. She couldn’t help but wonder in sadness if he always slept with some degree of tension since even before the end of the war.

Recalling the previous two nights, and deciding that this was simply going to be a nightly tradition unless Harry told her otherwise, she slowly tiptoed to the side of his bed. Then, she leaned down and kissed his cheek before whispering as quietly as possible, “Sleep well, Harry.”

Hermione felt a modicum of relief at seeing his face slowly relax until he appeared to actually be peacefully asleep. She crept out of his room and shut the door without a sound. Making her way back to her room, she closed her own door and heaved a sigh. She prayed that she could find a way to give him enough strength to finally pull himself out of the darkness in which he seemed to be forever trapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With one full scene from Harry's point of view this time, things got a little heavier again. The problems plaguing Harry's mind weren't going to immediately go away just because he agreed to come home with Hermione. Of course, anyone familiar with my previous works can probably guess what direction things will start to move in from here.
> 
> If you made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!


	5. Open Your Heart

Would the dawn of a new day be enough to wash away the pains of yesterday?

That was the question that Hermione asked herself when she woke up the next morning. She didn’t get out of bed immediately, but rather sat there for a few minutes, thinking about the events of last night. Hoping that Harry had still been able to get a restful sleep. Wishing that she’d been here so that he would never have gone through whatever nightmare he had in the first place.

She sighed as she stood from the bed and went to gather her clothes for the day. All she could do was be there for Harry now, if he would allow it.

She was in for a surprise, though, when she walked out of her room to head for the bathroom, as Harry stepped out of his room at the same time, holding his own day clothes. The two of them were startled when their gazes met, obviously neither expecting to have crossed paths in the hall after waking. There was silence for a couple of seconds, as they stared at one another, before Hermione broke it.

“Hi,” she quietly said.

“Hey,” he replied. “Um, if you were headed to the bathroom, I can wait on you first.”

His timid statement made her immediately want to reassure him. “You don’t have to defer, Harry. Remember what I said the first night?”

His gaze softened a little bit, sparking a glimmer of hope in her heart. “I do, Hermione. But I don’t mind, really. You’ve done so much for me that any little thing I can do for you, I will. So, go ahead. I’ll wait in the guest room until you come get me.”

A small smile grew on her face at his sentiment, and she warmly replied, “Alright then. Give me probably forty to forty-five minutes. And thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” And with that quiet statement, he disappeared back into his room.

As Hermione walked into the bathroom and shut the door, the hope within her grew a little more. Maybe everything really would turn out alright.

A bit later, she walked out of the bathroom and back to Harry’s room. Knocking on the open door as she stood in the entrance, she found him sitting on the bed with his back against the wall. He looked to her after she knocked before then glancing at the clock.

“About forty minutes exactly. Good sense of timing,” he said with a bit of jest.

She playfully replied, “Well, I mean what I say, and I say what I mean.”

He let out a quiet chuckle as he grabbed his clothes and stood from the bed. She stepped back into the hallway so he could leave the room, but before he could walk past her, she stopped him when she put a hand on his right arm. Seeing the confusion growing in his expression, she gave him the idea in her mind.

“Is it alright if I wait up here for you to finish, and then we can walk downstairs together?”

The expression he gave her was a mix of awkwardness and tenderness. Then, he whispered, “Yeah, that sounds good.” She just gave him a nod, and then he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Hermione went back to her room and sat on her bed. This was definitely a great start to the day. Only time would tell if it remained that way, once Harry revealed to her what happened in his nightmare from yesterday.

She lost herself in memories of Harry again, and in what felt like no time at all, she heard a knock on the door and looked up to find Harry standing at the entrance to her room. The clock revealed that it had been about thirty minutes since he entered the bathroom.

He said, “Hey. Are you ready?”

She stood up and walked out into the hall. Before he could say anything, though, she decided to listen to another calling from her heart. And without a word, she hugged him in a gentle embrace, burying her head in his shoulder. Though it took a few seconds, probably due to confusion, she felt his arms go around her in the same soft manner, and the two stood there for a minute in silence.

When she finally pulled back and separated, the confusion was definitely palpable in his expression. “Um, not that the hug wasn’t enjoyable, but what was it for?”

She looked at him with affection and replied, “Just… I’m glad that you’re here.”

While an obvious blush rose on his face, he gave her a small smile. “Yeah… I am, too. And thank you for convincing me to come.”

She flashed him a beaming smile before looking to the stairs and tilting her head in that direction for a second. He nodded at the unspoken question, and the two of them walked down to the living room together.

Jack and Miranda were already sitting with each other on the sofa when Hermione and Harry entered at about eight o’clock, one after the other, and they turned to look at the two upon the arrival. Hermione moved to sit in her usual space in the middle of the sofa, next to her mum, but Harry’s awkwardness seemed to return as he sat down in the armchair.

“Good morning, you two,” the parents said together.

“Morning Mum, morning Dad,” Hermione replied.

“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Granger,” Harry said.

Miranda looked to Harry with some sympathy and said, “No need to fall back on formalities, Harry, remember?”

He gave a nervous laugh and responded, “Yes, sorry. Guess I wasn’t so sure after what happened yesterday.”

While concern grew a little in Miranda’s expression, she simply asked, “Did you sleep well last night?”

Jack added, “Especially since we haven’t seen you since that point where we first came home, so you probably went to sleep without anything for dinner.”

Harry looked at the two parents for a second. Then, a hint of resolution fell over his face, as though he’d come to a decision. “Well, there was one hiccup at the beginning, where I thought I was going to have another nightmare. But it turned out not to be one, and I slept pretty soundly after that.”

Hermione felt her heart grow wings that flapped with happiness for a few seconds. Maybe that was why he had appeared so tense when she walked into his room last night. And maybe she really did help him when she kissed his cheek good night and saw his face relax afterward. But she wouldn’t say anything out loud until she and Harry were alone and could talk about things.

Jack stood up, with Miranda following suit right after, and said, “Well, we’re glad that you were able to get some rest. And now, with you two up, we’ll go prepare breakfast.”

Miranda then looked to Harry and told him, with mock sternness, “And I hope, young man, that you will make sure to eat every bit we put on your plate, since you went to bed hungry last night?”

Though his response was courteous, Harry couldn’t help the small smile that grew on his face. “Yes, Miranda. Yes, Jack. I will.”

As the parents began leaving the living room, Miranda patted Harry on the shoulder and said jokingly, “Good answer.”

Hermione was glad to see the smile on Harry’s face grow a little bit larger, and to see him able to take the teasing in stride even though he had to know that her parents were still concerned about yesterday’s events.

Once she and Harry were alone, he looked to the armchair and then back to her. Then, he got up out of the chair and sat next to her, exactly like when they’d read her history book together since he left barely any space between them. Her heart was now jumping for joy at the progress that was happening.

Gazing at each other, his expression then became timid as he quietly said, “You know, it’s weird for me to have your parents so concerned about my well-being even when they have so many reasons to hate me. Not to mention… all those years growing up with the Dursleys, the years where no one put in any effort to check on me even though Dumbledore himself said that he knew he was basically leaving me in a hellhole, it always feels unbelievable when someone seems to actually care.”

Hermione felt a sharp stab of pain in her heart. She had half a mind to jump up and Apparate to those miserable relatives of his and show them exactly what magic could do to them. But Harry himself was more important right now.

Without removing her gaze from him, she took hold of his right hand and intertwined their fingers. Then, she whispered, “That’s what a real family does, Harry. Look out for one another. And you’re my best friend, I worry about you. So, of course Mum and Dad would worry about you, too.”

His expression became a bit dejected, and it took about ten seconds before he sadly replied. “Still… I guess it’s one of those things that I’ll just never get used to. I never could with the Weasleys, and your parents have been better in that they’re nowhere near as… dysfunctional as the Weasleys, to try and put it somewhat nicely. And that kind of flaw is something which feels much more familiar to me when it comes to domestic life.”

Her heart must have been slowly starting to take over because, without stopping to think, she immediately responded, “Then I’ll just have to have you over here as much as possible so that you _can_ get used to it, won’t I?”

Her unexpected words only broke through to her mind when she saw Harry’s absolutely stunned expression, but she schooled her face enough that her own shock didn’t show. She would never, however, take the words back. She said that she would do anything to help him. And if being here gave him happiness, like she hoped it had so far going by his thanking her for convincing him to come during the holidays, then she would bring him to stay with her as often as possible.

After a minute, Harry finally whispered, “You would really do that?”

Hermione gave his hand a squeeze and softly replied, “Of course I would. It’s like I said that night in the common room. I want you to be happy. And I’ll do anything to help you so that you can be happy.”

Tears began to build up in his eyes, as he looked down at their joined hands before raising his head back to her. Then, he tugged her forward before letting go of her hand and wrapping his arms tightly around her. She quickly responded and gave him a crushing hug. In the hush that followed, her logical mind was completely gone. In its place was one single thought from her heart.

Today. She would tell him her true feelings today.

Eventually, she felt Harry beginning to pull back, so she loosened her hold. When they separated and locked eyes, Harry’s eyes were dry, but he still wore a sad expression. He said, “After breakfast, is there somewhere we can go and be alone? I… I’m ready to talk about what happened yesterday.”

Well, apparently the universe wanted her to tell him today, too. Giving it some thought, there was one place that stood out above all else. “How about the Forest of Dean? There wouldn’t normally be anyone else around. But in case someone did actually pass through, we could have all of the protections up that we used during the hunt so that we’ll still be safe. In my beaded handbag, I’ve even still got the tent Bill gave us, if you would rather not just sit in the forest itself. How does that sound, Harry?”

After a few seconds of silence with Harry thinking over her idea, he responded, “Yeah, OK. That sounds fine.”

She nodded before asking the last question on her mind. “So, what do you want to tell Mum and Dad? Since we have to Apparate, I would like to warn them that we’ll be leaving so that they won’t worry.”

His eyes glanced away for a couple of seconds before he replied. “I’ll just tell them the truth. That I wanted a private place to talk to you about yesterday. Considering how kind your parents have been to me thus far, they deserve that much.”

She gave him a tiny smile as she said, “OK then, it’s a plan.”

At that point, they heard footsteps in the hallway and then a knock on the wall. They looked towards the living room entrance to see Hermione’s parents standing there.

Jack said, “Food’s ready, you two.”

Miranda added, while looking to Harry, “And you remember what I said before we left?”

Unable to hide the cheeky grin that lit his face, Harry said with mock seriousness, “I will make sure to eat every bit you put on my plate.”

The parents couldn’t help their chuckles as they left for the kitchen. Harry and Hermione stood up and followed within a few seconds. When they arrived, the two of them noticed that the plate set at Harry’s spot at the table had portions that were bigger by probably half. They looked at each other and both shook their heads in amusement before taking their places.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, with all being content to bask in the tranquil silence. Harry actually managed to finish his meal at the same time as the three Grangers. Jack spoke up when they were done, “Looks like you were hungrier than you thought, eh?”

Harry sheepishly said, “Maybe, but… I’m not sure I would have been able to eat yesterday evening if I’d even tried.”

Hermione couldn’t stop herself and, under the table, put her left hand on top of his right. He looked at her and gave her a sad smile, understanding what she was trying to do.

The parents knew that Hermione had done something to have earned the smile, but they decided not to bring mention to it. Miranda then said, “Like we told you last night, Harry, we’re here for you if there’s anything we can do.”

Taking a deep breath, Harry replied, “Well, actually… while there’s nothing you need to do, I wanted to tell you that Hermione and I are planning to Apparate to one of the places we went to during the hunt last year. I…”

He paused for a second, looking shamefaced down at the table. “I wanted a quiet and private place where I could talk to Hermione about what happened yesterday. And I hope you don’t think less of me that I only feel ready to tell her right now.”

Hermione curled her hand around his, trying to reassure him with her presence. Even with only knowing her parents for less than a week, he was worried that not giving them what was by all accounts very personal information would make it appear that he thought badly of them. In her mind, she cursed every single person that had played any part in utterly destroying his self-worth.

She heard the scrapes of chairs and looked up to see her parents moving to their side of the table. Hermione let go of Harry, knowing that he probably wouldn’t want any unnecessary questions right now, but she gave his hand a couple of soft pats before pulling her hand away completely to try and let him know that she was still with him.

Once the parents had come around the table and were standing next to Harry, Jack kneeled down to be at eye-level. Then, he put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and said, “We don’t think that at all, Harry. If anything, we’re glad that you trust Hermione enough to talk to her.”

Miranda gave a sympathetic nod before saying, “You don’t owe us anything, Harry. And if you aren’t ready for anyone else to know, we’ll never force you to tell.”

Jack gave Harry’s shoulder a squeeze before removing his hand and standing up. Harry looked up at the parents and, after a couple of seconds, hesitantly whispered, “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

Smiling at him, Miranda said, “Well, when did the two of you want to leave? That way, we can be ready for the crack when you disappear.”

Hermione decided to jump in at this point. “After breakfast, so I guess we’ll do it soon?” She said it in a questioning tone since she and Harry hadn’t set a definitive time after breakfast of when to leave.

But she must have been right, as Harry turned to her and nodded. Then, he said, “Yeah, the quicker the better, I think. I’ve already got my pouch, and we can use the Invisibility Cloak while Apparating in case there might actually be someone else in that area.”

“Alright then,” she responded. “Just let me go grab my beaded handbag, and then we’ll go.”

A minute later, Hermione hurried into the living room, her handbag tucked into one of the pockets of her jacket. She found her parents on the sofa and Harry in the armchair. When she entered, Harry turned and, seeing her, stood up from the chair, holding his folded Cloak in his right hand.

Deciding not to waste time, she spoke before he could. “I’m ready when you are.” He simply nodded and stepped into the space between the TV and coffee table. When she moved to stand in front of him, he unfolded the Cloak.

She then said in a loud and clear tone, “When you throw that over us, I’ll count to three and then Apparate us. That way, Mum and Dad will be prepared for the departure, since we’ll be invisible.” He nodded and took a deep breath, but before anything else could be done, Miranda stood and spoke up.

“Wait. Just one thing before you leave.”

Harry and Hermione turned their heads to her. She had a worried expression, one that didn’t go away when Jack stood up and put an arm around her in comfort. After a couple of seconds, Miranda continued.

“I won’t ask where you might be going. All I ask is… please be safe, you two. If anything would happen to you now, after everything you two have suffered over the years, I couldn’t handle it.”

Surprisingly, Harry beat Hermione with a response. He replied, fairly resolutely considering what they were leaving to do, “I promise you both, we will come back safe and sound. And I refuse to break a promise.”

Miranda and Jack both gave him a smile, hers being a bit watery, and a silent nod. Sensing the conversation was over, Harry and Hermione turned back to each other. A second later, he threw the Cloak over them, and they crouched down to let it fully cover them. She took his hands and whispered for only his ears, “OK, ready?”

His only response was a nod.

Thus, she called out loudly, “Alright then. One… two… three!” And with a crack, the two of them disappeared from the Granger residence and landed in the Forest of Dean.

Back at the house, Miranda looked down at the floor and sadly shook her head. Jack gave her a squeeze with the arm that was still around her and gently asked, “What is it, honey? What’s on your mind?”

She shakily replied, “I just wish there was something more I could do. You saw how terrified he was at the table when he told us he could only talk to Hermione right now. It makes me feel like I haven’t done enough to make him feel comfortable in our home.”

Jack pulled her into a full hug before saying, “Think of it this way. His worry about our reactions, as well as his honesty with telling us in the first place, shows that he thinks well enough of us to care about what we think of him. If it’s somehow not that, then he at least cares about Hermione so much that he wants to be on good terms with us for _her_ sake.”

Miranda pulled back just enough to look up at him with pleading eyes. “Yes, I suppose I can’t disagree with that.”

He continued, “I think we’re doing what we need to in treating him basically like a member of the family. We just need to keep at it. But I also think that it’s really only going to be because of Hermione that Harry finally starts to heal. And you said it yourself last night. If there’s anyone that can help him, it’s our Little Worm.”

She smiled at him before putting her hand at the back of his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. When they parted, she said, “Thank you, dear. I needed those words.”

He returned the smile. “That’s why I’m here. Even the best of us need a helping hand sometimes.”

She chuckled at him before pulling out of the hug. Then, after a deep breath, Miranda said, “Alright, I mentioned in the bedroom last night about getting groceries sometime today. I think I’ll go ahead and do that now.”

Jack asked, “Do you want me to come with you, or should I stay here in case the kids come home?”

“Please stay here,” she answered. “The last thing we need is for them to come home to an empty house, even if we would leave a note about where we are.”

He nodded his agreement before a thoughtful expression crossed his face. “Do you… want to get those pictures developed while you’re out?”

She shook her head. “Not until Christmas Eve. I don’t want to miss out on anything good between now and then if I can help it.”

He simply gave a silent nod at her plan.

Meanwhile, in the Forest of Dean, Hermione looked around under the Cloak but couldn’t see anyone near them. Pulling out her wand, she whispered, “OK, I think we’re alone. But just to be safe, as soon as you take this Cloak off, get your wand and start helping me set up our old protections.”

He nodded before flinging the Cloak off, holding it underneath his left arm as he followed Hermione’s order. And in no time at all, they had the entire clearing they were located in covered in their enchantments to keep others from finding them.

Once they were done, Harry folded up the Cloak and stuffed it back into his mokeskin pouch. He remained silent as he moved to a large tree and sat with his back to it, legs stretched out in front of him. Hermione was worried about the anxious expression on his face, as he stared towards the ground, and the shaky breaths he was taking. It was as if, now that he was here, the situation of what he had wanted to do was hitting him in full force all at once.

The tree was large enough to fit them both, so she slowly walked over and sat down next to him, on his right side. Her fears were amplified by how he never moved, like he didn’t even realize she was still there. No, she couldn’t let him start drowning himself in unneeded guilt.

Not moving her gaze, she joined her left hand and his right, once again linking their fingers together. That seemed to pull him out of whatever hole he was diving into, as he rapidly blinked for a second before glancing at their hands and then locking his eyes on her.

“Harry,” she whispered, “if you think you still aren’t ready to talk about yesterday, just say so. You don’t have to do this if it’s too much.”

He shook his head and said, with a slight quiver in his voice, “No, I… if I don’t do it now, who’s to say I’ll ever do it at all?”

Looking at him as sympathetically as she could, she replied, “Well, do you want me to pull out the tent from my bag and then set it up, so that we can sit in there?”

While it took a couple of seconds this time, he shook his head again. “No, this is fine. Just… will you please stay here, sitting at my side, while I do this?”

She scooted closer to him, leaving no space in between them as their legs and sides touched. Then, she gave his hand a squeeze and whispered, “You never needed to ask. I won’t go anywhere.”

He looked away, pulled his knees up to his chest, and wrapped his left arm around his knees. Then, he murmured so quietly that she would have missed it had there been any other sounds in the forest, “Can you be so sure?”

That threw Hermione off, as it was a question she hadn’t been expecting. She didn’t have enough time to respond, however, as Harry slipped his hand out of hers and put his other arm around his knees. Then, with his gaze locked onto the forest floor in front of him, he continued.

“There’s something else about my nightmares that you don’t know. I told you that my worst nightmares were always the ones that pushed me to go to the common room, rather than try and go back to sleep. But what I didn’t tell you is that… my worst nightmares always involve you.”

Her eyes went wide at the revelation, and she couldn’t stop the gasp that left her. He’d mentioned the Department of Mysteries after saying that some of his nightmares were about their earlier adventures but with more people dying at the end. Was he watching her die, night after night?

Harry’s next words, with the pain in his voice being obvious to anyone, confirmed her fears. “Watching you die in places like the Department of Mysteries or Malfoy Manor. Seeing you get fed up and leave because you think I’m hopeless or too much of a danger to your life, like when I dream about the Horcrux hunt. Or, or with you being one of the voices telling me that my only purpose is complete. Sometimes the clearest voice, like… like yesterday.”

A pit instantly formed in her stomach. The shame he held within him was so great that he was torturing himself with the possibility of being alone without a purpose. What horrible things could her dream-self have said in his nightmare?

She took a deep breath, wanting to remain strong and support him, and gently placed her left hand on his upper arm. This caused him to blink a few times and turn his head just enough so that he could look at her with his right eye. Then, with as much tenderness as she could give, she whispered, “Harry… will you tell me exactly what happened yesterday? What happened in your nightmare and has terrified you so much?”

He turned a bit more, looking down at her hand on his arm a few seconds later. Then, her heart started dropping when he let go of his knees, appearing as though he was going to get up and walk away, still unable to talk to her. But he surprised her again when he remained sitting, merely stretching his legs out again, and then took hold of her left hand with his right, holding it like it was his last tether of salvation. He locked his despondent eyes onto her before speaking, the lump in his throat obvious from his tone.

“Do you have any clue about what your touch does for me? It’s like… it’s the one guiding light I have in my life. It shows me that you’re still here, even with everything you’ve had to suffer over the years through knowing me. It tells me that, even with my lack of purpose, you’re still at my side, and that there’s still a single place that I can belong, whether it be as a friend or as… anything else.”

While Hermione didn’t let it show through her expression, the shock that ran through her at Harry’s last statement was so great that she may as well have been struck by lightning. Was he having thoughts about their relationship, too? When he said as anything else, did he actually mean as something more than just friends?

She was pulled from her rapidly cascading thoughts when Harry continued. “But there’s always a part of me that is afraid of what would happen if you were gone, especially with how distant I’ve acted this year. And yesterday, I was lying on the bed and trying to convince myself to be happy with how things were, because you’ve told me that you would never give up on me, and I know that you would never lie to me. So, I started taking deep breaths and closed my eyes, for what I thought was a few moments.

“But when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t at the house anymore. I was sitting at King’s Cross.”

Hermione hated to interrupt him, but she needed to ask. “Do you know why it was King’s Cross?”

His eyes glanced away for a second before he answered. “Because, after I let Riddle hit me with a Killing Curse,” to which Hermione instinctually tightened her hold on his hand at the reminder of the miracle that Harry was still here, “that’s where I woke up, and ended up meeting Dumbledore. Though apparently, it may have all just been in my head, from the old man’s last words before I blacked out again and then became conscious of the fact that I was still lying on the forest floor.”

Giving him a sympathetic look, she said, “So, because of that, did you think you were actually dead when you woke up and weren’t at home?”

He gave a short nod. “Yeah, basically. I stood up in a panic and started saying that I was really still back at your house, that me being at King’s Cross had to just be a dream. But then…”

He paused, turned away, and began looking at his knees. Then, after a few seconds of silence, he timidly said, “I heard a voice behind me, asking me whether it mattered if this was a dream. I turned around in fright, hoping with everything that the person wasn’t who it sounded like. But it was… it was you.”

He closed his eyes and started taking short breaths, looking for everything like he was close to a panic attack. Needing to comfort him, she reached over with her right hand to take his left, pulling it over until she held his hands just as she’d done in the common room that last night at Hogwarts.

When he opened his eyes and glanced at her again, she whispered with all the affection she could muster, “Always remember, you can tell me anything. I promise.” And she squeezed his hands for a second to emphasize her statement.

While his fearful expression didn’t change, he gave her a short nod. Then, after managing to take one long and steady breath, he continued, though it was obvious from his choking tone that he was desperately holding in tears.

“You started saying that dreams can sometimes give us messages that we are ignoring or haven’t realized, and then asked what could the message there have been. At that point, I closed my eyes and pleaded to myself a few times to wake up. But when I opened my eyes, I was still standing there. Then, you started saying that maybe it wasn’t a dream, and that everything I thought had been real was just a hallucination right before I died, but you also said this wouldn’t go against the idea of my mind sending me a message.”

He closed his eyes and hung his head. “And then, you stepped up to me, with an expression on your face as though I was complete scum, saying that you knew the message. And you asked me… what made me think that I would always have a place at your side?”

Because you _do_ , Hermione thought. Because the only place that she wanted to be was by his side.

She never had a chance, however, to say anything. As much as it pained Harry to be talking about this, it seemed that he couldn’t stop now, as though he’d fallen over the edge of a waterfall.

“When I tried to talk about how you said you would never give up on me, your response was to ask how I could be certain that you would never finally reach your breaking point with me. My only answer was that I had to believe it because I would be lost without you.”

Tears then began flowing from his closed eyes. “That’s when you said that I was already lost now that my purpose had been fulfilled, which is why I was clinging onto you so badly. That I’m much more dependent on you than you are on me. And I could only stand there and cry, until the real you started shaking my arm and pleaded for me to wake up. I had no rebuttal because it’s completely true. I am and always have been so dependent on you. And that worries me for more than just not knowing what to do with my life.

“You said before that you would never give up on me, but what if I and all of my issues end up holding you back? You could be so great, Hermione, with your brilliance and resolve. There’s nothing in the world that you couldn’t do. You deserve the chance to see how high you can reach with your potential. A chance to have something better than being chained to me and my issues for however long it may take to get past them. Even if I would have to suffer alone, I would take that a thousand times over if it meant that you would be happy.”

Harry finally became silent as he let go of her hands and pulled his knees back up to his chest. Then, he wrapped his arms around, and rested his forehead on, his knees. This was so much worse than his appearance that night in the common room. He seemed to have been completely broken.

Hermione had been too stunned to keep a tight grip on his hands. This was his torment over the last six months. He was afraid to lose her from his life but, at the same time, terrified about ruining her own with his problems. And he was such a noble idiot that he would rather destroy himself than place what he thought were burdens on her.

But he was wrong. Being at his side for all time wasn’t a chain holding her back. And it was time for him to learn exactly why she would always be with him.

Just like earlier, she placed a hand on his arm and caused him to glance at her with one eye. This time, however, she stood up without a word before holding both of her hands out, palms up as an invitation for him. With tears still streaming down his cheeks, he stared at her hands for a second before looking back up to her. Then, with some reluctance, he took her hands and stood up from the forest floor. She was glad that he was still able to trust her, even when she knew he was questioning whatever it was she had planned.

She took a few steps backwards away from the tree, pulling him along with her. When she stopped them and let go of his hands, he just stared at her with all the sadness of the world in his eyes. Maybe he thought she was going to agree with his words about her life being hindered by trying to help him.

If that was the case, then he was in for the biggest, and hopefully happiest, shock of his life.

Still remaining silent, Hermione reached up with her left hand, placing it on his right cheek. Then, his eyes widened when she began to gently wipe the tear tracks away with her thumb. She started at his jawline and slowly made her way to his eye. When she finished and made sure that no new tears were falling, and without pulling her left hand away from him, she then brought her right hand up and repeated the process with his left cheek. And when she was done a minute or so later, she simply stood there, holding his head between her hands. While his eyes were now filled with confusion, she was glad to see that all of the misery within them had disappeared.

Only then did she finally speak, in a whisper. “Please, answer me this question, Harry. You said earlier that my touch lets you know that there’s a place where you belong, whether as a friend or as anything else. But when you said ‘anything else…’ did you really mean as more than a friend?”

Sorrow returned to his expression and, though he couldn’t turn his head within her grasp, his eyes glanced away. Then, he despondently said, “I should have known you would pick up on that, especially with how you know me better than anyone. But, yes… that’s what I mean. And I didn’t want to say anything about it because I have no right to ask more of you after how much you’ve been working to help me with this holiday break.”

Her heart was screaming at her to kiss him right then. But there was one last thing she wanted to ask before finally taking that leap. “Well, then that leads to one more question, if you’re willing to take it.”

His eyes flicked back to her and, after a few seconds, he replied, “Sure, Hermione. Go ahead.”

She took a long breath and then asked, “If I would do something stupid in the next minute or two that could potentially make things awkward, will you promise that our friendship won’t be ruined afterwards?”

He was completely baffled at her question but instantly answered. “Hermione, I don’t think you could ever do anything stupid, so you don’t have to worry. But if you still need or want the words, then I promise that you will always be my best friend, no matter what.”

Those were the best words she could have hoped for. It was now or never.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him. And not wanting to wait even another instant in case she chickened out, she placed her right hand on the back of his neck. Then, she pulled his head down to her and kissed him full on the lips.

Even with her eyes closed, she figured that he was definitely shocked because he was as still as a statue. But as long as he wasn’t trying to pull away, she would keep this going since there was a real possibility that it could be the only kiss that she would get from him.

But then…

His mouth began to move in response to hers, and she felt him wrap his arms around her before pulling her body closer to him. Her heart and soul were both jumping in euphoria that this was actually happening. She tried deepening the kiss, grazing her tongue across his lips as either a request for her or an invitation to him. He immediately responded and met her tongue with his own. No interruption in the world could have pulled her out of this moment.

A minute later, they pulled back and separated, gasping for air. Once they had caught their breath some, Harry was the first to speak.

“Hermione, why did… I don’t…”

His expression showed that he was utterly baffled. And her next question probably wasn’t going to ease his nerves, either.

Stepping up to him again until she was a few inches away, she said, “Harry, what if I told you that there is absolutely a place for you at my side as more than a friend?”

His eyes went wide, and she could see the shine of tears building up within them. He haltingly whispered, “What? You… do you mean that?”

She looked at him with a bit of fear before answering with another question. “Is that promise about our friendship still in effect?”

He seemed thrown off by the question, and his disbelieving tone confirmed that. “Of course, Hermione. Like I told you when we reunited at King’s Cross, I won’t break a promise to you.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “Good. Because there’s a high probability that things will get uncomfortable with my next words.”

Hermione then took hold of his hands, almost more for her own sake this time. Taking one more deep breath, she looked up after a few seconds and locked eyes with him before finally whispering to him the phrase that she’d been holding back for the entire break.

“I love you, Harry.”

He was completely dumbfounded. His eyes were larger than she’d ever before seen, and his jaw dropped in shock. He tried to speak a few times, but his mouth would just move a bit before dropping back down, no sounds leaving him at all. Wanting to help him like always, she took the lead again and just decided to come out with every detail.

“I know that it has to be a shock to hear that seemingly out of the blue. And I know that maybe it’s still too early for me to even say that considering we’ve never talked about being more than friends before. But there’s no better way to describe my feelings for you. No other way to describe how utterly important you are to me, and how determined I am to find a way for you to be happy, no matter what it takes.

“You say that you are more reliant on me than I am on you. I say that you’re wrong, and that I could never survive without you. Harry, don’t forget how I wanted to die with you, when you were going to meet Riddle during the Battle of Hogwarts, rather than live the rest of my life without you, even when I hadn’t realized the depths of my feelings for you. And I only stayed behind because you begged me to, and I could never deny what we thought was your last request.”

She could feel tears beginning to rise in her eyes now that she was finally confessing everything, but she trudged on through her words. “You say that you don’t want to place any burdens on me. I say give me every burden you have, because you’ve been carrying the weight of the world for far too long. Let someone else carry you as you take a more-than-deserved rest from having to solve the problems of all of us.”

His expression made him appear to be overwhelmed by her revelations. She saw a couple of tears begin to trickle down the right side of his face. Letting go of his hands, she placed her left hand on his cheek and began to wipe with her thumb, just like before. He smiled in gratitude for an instant, giving her a bit of hope about how things would go after she ended her speech. But there was still more that needing saying.

Without removing her hand from his cheek, she quietly said, “You say that staying with you, and helping you through your issues, will just be a chain that holds me back. I say…”

She choked up for a second as her own tears started to fall but was able to push through the lump in her throat. “I say that there’s no better place for me to be, no other place that I _want_ to be, than by your side. And even if it took longer than our entire lifetimes to resolve your problems, I would still be right there with you, every step of the way.”

Harry’s brow was furrowed in such a way that Hermione could tell that he was trying his hardest to keep from crying. And her final piece may just push him over that edge.

“So, if you don’t think you’re ready with your issues to try a deeper relationship, or if you even simply don’t want to try for any reason, you will still always be my best friend, and I will be here to help you in any way that I can. But if you do ever want to take that plunge, then there’s a spot reserved right at my side with your name on it, and it’s not going anywhere.”

With that, she pulled her hand away from him and became silent. The secret was now out in the open. She would accept whatever reaction he had or decision he made regarding her confession. While it would hurt if he ended up rejecting her, she meant every word about always staying at his side to help him.

Harry closed his eyes and hung his head, still trying to hold back sobs. Though Hermione wanted to let him have time to compose himself, her need to comfort him was too great. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her in a gentle embrace. He immediately circled his own arms around her, holding her as tightly as a lifeline. She tightened her embrace in response, trying to silently tell him that she was right here for him.

When he finally spoke, his voice sounded as though every one of the tears he hadn’t shed from his eyes was now coming through in his words. “I don’t deserve at all to have someone like you in my life, someone that will unquestionably give so much of themselves for my sake.”

She loosened her grip on him only just enough that she could look at him, causing him to do the same. As his emerald eyes stared into her chocolate-brown ones, Hermione whispered, “I think you do. I think you deserve so much more than all of us could ever repay. But even if you somehow didn’t, do you remember my words on the train?”

His lips curled in a half-smile for an instant before he said, “That sometimes, it’s just about what is.”

She gave a small nod. Deciding to listen to another temptation from her heart, she placed her right hand at the back of his head and slowly brought him forward until their foreheads were touching, almost its own kind of kiss, and held him there. Then, she tenderly replied, “That’s right. And Harry… I’m not going anywhere. I will never leave your life. No matter what.”

He was overwhelmed again by her declarations and closed his eyes, though he at least wasn’t trying to break away from her. When his eyes opened, although he still appeared as if he was holding in tears, there was a genuine smile on his face. And when he spoke, she could hear the undercurrent of happiness beneath his tearful tone.

“You’ve been my best friend for so long, even if I only just realized this year that it was actually you. You’ve done so much for me over the last seven years, and always looked out for me. You’re an amazing, brilliant, and wonderful woman, Hermione. And… I would love to take that plunge to see where our relationship can go.”

No words in the universe could convey the happiness that filled Hermione at that very moment. So, rather than attempting to speak, she let go of his head but then leaned her mouth forward to give him a deep kiss. He instantly responded this time, and there was nothing that could matter more to her than being here with Harry at this moment. When they pulled away, they were both wearing the same huge, bright smiles on their faces.

An idea popped into Hermione’s head, and she shifted to hold Harry’s hands again. Seeing the puzzlement in his eyes, she led them back to the tree where they had previously been sitting. When she looked to him and nudged her head at the tree for a second, he understood what she was asking, letting go of her hands and sitting down. After he had settled, she joined him by scooting into his right side and linking her hand with his again. Then, she closed her eyes and leaned her head onto his shoulder.

Harry gave a soft chuckle at her actions before then leaning his own head to rest against hers. Hermione opened her eyes and couldn’t stop the content sigh that left her lips when he did so.

As they sat there, staring into the forest, she heard Harry murmur, “You know, I’m not sure what I was even expecting to happen today, but it certainly wasn’t this.”

She squeezed his hand for a second and tenderly said, “It may have been a surprise, but at least it was a pleasant one this time, right?”

He chuckled again and answered, “Probably the understatement of the century there.” His tone then became completely serious. “Thank you so much for having the patience to stay at my side all this time.”

She replied just as gravely, “No need to thank me for something I always would have done.”

He simply tightened his grip on her hand a bit, a silent acknowledgement. No more words were said after that, and the forest was so tranquil that Hermione couldn’t help closing her eyes again in happiness.

When she next tried to open them, she had to blink a few times, trying to get rid of the sudden sleepiness and heaviness in her eyes. Her head was still on Harry’s shoulder, so she took a deep breath and said, “Harry?”

He answered with a question of his own. “Hey, you finally awake now?”

That caused her to pull her head up. Looking into his eyes, she asked, “So, I really have been asleep?”

He nodded. “For a while, yeah. I called your name at one point and you never answered. When I slowly moved my head enough that I could look at you, I saw you sleeping on my shoulder. But you looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to disturb you. So, I just let you rest until you woke up on your own.”

She was touched at his thoughtfulness and leaned in to give him a kiss, lasting for a few seconds. When they parted, he had a blush and a timid smile on his face, looking all too adorable.

“Thank you,” she said.

He sheepishly responded, “Well, like I said, any little thing I can do to help you, I will.”

She smiled at him. Though she had no idea how long it may take for his shyness to disappear, at least it was endearing and showed that he was being genuine. Then, remembering that they were still in the Forest of Dean, she asked, “What time is it? Do you have your wristwatch?”

He looked over to his left wrist and said, “One o’clock right now. You’ve been asleep for about two hours since I first checked, but I can’t say exactly when you first fell asleep or even when we arrived here in the forest.”

She was a little shocked at the time. “That means we’ve been here for almost four-and-a-half hours, since we left right after breakfast. Maybe we better go home, I don’t want Mum and Dad to worry too much about us being gone for so long.”

He just nodded and finally let go of her left hand before standing up. He pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and unfolded it as she went around the area and ended their protections. When she finished and walked back to him, he flung the Cloak over them, and they hunched down to let it fully conceal them.

Hermione then took hold of his hands again and said, “OK, I’ll count to three and then Apparate us to my room. That way, we don’t scare Mum and Dad too badly with the crack that may sound. But before that, I have one question.”

Harry said, “Sure, ask away.”

She nodded and replied, “What do you want to do about my parents when it comes to this new step in our relationship? Do you want to just tell them immediately once we get home, or would you rather wait a little bit?”

His response was a quiet chuckle, which perplexed her. He must have seen her confusion, as his answer quickly cleared things up. “Sorry for the out-of-nowhere laugh. It’s just… you talked about _us_ going home twice now, even though it’s only your house. Combining that with what you said earlier about having me over way more often to get used to family that cares, it… it really does feel like there’s a place where I can always belong. And I know you probably didn’t mean it like that, and that I may have read too much into it – “

Hermione had been so touched at his comment that she refused to let him backtrack his way out. “You absolutely can read it like that. My home is your home, Harry. Wherever that home may be.”

He appeared to choke up at how she really was willing to let him into her home. His response was a muted, “Thank you.”

She simply squeezed his hands again without a word, and they stood there gazing at one another.

After a minute, Harry took a deep breath and said, “Alright, I guess we really should get going. So, to actually answer your question… would it be alright if we waited until tomorrow to confess to your parents? That’s a conversation I would rather have after a full night’s rest, especially after the large gamut of emotions I’ve already experienced today.”

Hermione nodded and replied, “Whatever you want, Harry, we can do that. Alright then… are you ready to go home?”

He answered, “Ready when you are.”

She nodded and began the countdown. And in a few seconds, they were standing in Hermione’s room.

After Harry threw the Cloak off of them, Hermione went into the hall and yelled as loudly as she could, “ _Mum! Dad!_ We’re home!”

Only a few seconds later, Jack reached the top of the stairs. Hermione was rushing towards the stairs herself but stopped when he appeared. Harry was only a couple of steps behind her, stopping to stand on her left side after she halted.

Jack said, “Miranda and I heard the crack but weren’t completely sure if it was you. Glad to have you home again.”

As if on cue, Miranda then arrived at the second floor. Upon seeing the two teenagers next to each other, she visibly sighed in relief and said, “Oh, I’m glad you’re both here safely. While I know that the two of you can surely handle yourselves, I couldn’t help but worry a little after a few hours passed with both of you still gone.”

She then looked at the two with a bit more concern and hesitantly asked, since she wasn’t sure if it was any of her business, “So, did everything go well with your talk, you two? You don’t have to say anything if it’s too personal, I don’t want to pry.”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a few seconds and smiled. Then, Harry turned his head back to Miranda and said, “Yeah, went better than I ever could have imagined. You should be proud of your daughter. She really is the best friend a person could have.”

Hermione blushed and gave a sheepish smile. Before anything could be mentioned on that, Harry continued, “And Miranda, Jack. I’m sorry for making the two of you worry. That wasn’t my intention at all. It required a longer talk to get through my issue, and then Hermione and I just enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while afterwards until we realized how long we had been gone.”

Miranda walked up to Harry and surprised him by hugging him for a couple of seconds. When she let go and stepped back, she replied, “Harry, it’s a parent’s job to worry about their children. And while you aren’t actually our child, you _are_ the best friend of our child, which puts you in the same category to look out for. The key, though, is to still have enough faith in your children to not let that worry make you become overbearing and end up stifling them. Especially so when you know that the children are adults that have faced far greater dangers than you ever will, and that they can take care of themselves.”

Harry was dumbfounded for a few seconds before timidly saying, “Thank you for thinking so highly of me, even when you have every prerogative not to with what’s happened in your lives because of me.”

Jack stepped up, clapped a hand onto Harry’s left shoulder, and quietly answered, “No thanks necessary. You’re important to Hermione, so that makes you important to us, as well.”

Harry looked from the parents to Hermione and back again, with a smile that Hermione could tell was from trying to hold back tears at the great consideration her family already had for him. He remained silent, as Jack moved back beside Miranda.

Then, Jack asked, “Now, am I right in assuming that you two haven’t eaten since breakfast?” He received sheepish nods from both teenagers and thus continued. “Well, I thought I would go get some takeout. The clouds have built up to the point that it could snow at any time, and depending on how much freezing rain and ice we get along with it, we might have to wait a few days before going anywhere afterwards. How does Chinese sound again, since it’s close enough and also gives such large amounts of food? Of course, there’s also a couple of leftover pieces of pizza from last night that we saved for you, Harry, just to let you know.”

Harry’s eyes glanced down at the floor for a second before he answered, “Takeout is fine with me.”

Hermione agreed, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan, Dad.” She then leaned into Harry’s ear and whispered, “Try the sesame chicken this time. That might be my actual favorite.”

He looked at her with a smirk but silently nodded at her idea.

-O-

No more than ten seconds after Jack walked back in the door with their lunch plates, snow began to fall in the neighborhood. Hermione always got that childlike feeling of wonder whenever it snowed in time for Christmas. It almost didn’t feel like the holidays without seeing the houses and grounds covered in snow. She felt as if it gave a sense of tranquility to the environment.

After finishing their meals, with Hermione silently giggling at how Harry seemed to enjoy this one even more, she surprised Harry when she asked her father if they still had their old chess set in the house. After he went to check the bedroom closet, when she saw the surprise on Harry’s face, she shrugged and said that he played it a lot with Ron at Hogwarts, so she figured they could do something today that he enjoyed. The affectionate smile she received with that comment told her that she completely made the right choice.

For the rest of the day, the whole group actually got involved with playing against one another, with the winner switching out for the next person. Harry had been confused about that stipulation until he saw Jack play and win very handily against Miranda in the first match. Hermione then revealed that her dad was far and away the best player of all of them, with Hermione having never beat him whenever she did play, and her mum only winning maybe five percent of the time against him. Jack’s reply was that he actually liked it whenever Hermione and Miranda were able to challenge him and make him work for a win, since one won’t actually improve if they only play people that can be beaten too quickly. Harry and Hermione both looked at each other with a bit of amusement, the same thought in their minds about Ron always playing the same people.

But all too soon, the time reached almost ten o’clock in the evening, and everyone decided to turn in. After saying good night to her parents and then brushing their teeth in the hall bathroom, Harry and Hermione stopped at the intersection of their rooms. They stood there for a minute, staring at each other, before Hermione broke the silence with what she’d wanted to confess regarding last night but had not yet had the chance.

Suddenly nervous since she wasn’t sure how he would react to her having sneaked into his room, she timidly spoke, “Um, so… you mentioned this morning about starting to have a nightmare last night but then it went away and allowed you to sleep peacefully.” He was baffled at where her statement was going but nodded that it was true, so she kept talking.

“Well, um… right before I went to bed last night, I actually came into your room to check on you. I saw that you looked pretty tense, so… like the first two nights, I kissed you on the cheek and then said, as quietly as I could so as to not wake you, for you to sleep well. I know that I probably shouldn’t have done that since you weren’t awake – “

Harry interjected at that point, smiling as he did so. “That was real, and not just in the dream? I woke up at King’s Cross again and started panicking, even more so when I turned around and saw you standing behind me, just like in the nightmare I told you about. But instead of speaking, you smiled at me and then silently walked up before kissing me like those other two nights. It put me at such ease that, when I closed my eyes afterward, I never stirred until the time where I met you in the hall after getting up.”

That was certainly not a response she’d been expecting. With eyes wide, she stammered, “Oh! Well, so… you don’t mind that I did that?”

He shook his head and softly replied, “The way I see it, it just shows that you care enough to look out for me.”

She couldn’t help the beaming smile she gave to him. But then, hearing something in the hall, they both looked and saw Crookshanks scampering towards them. This time, after nuzzling the both of them, he rushed into Harry’s room, obviously having chosen his domicile for the night.

Harry and Hermione looked back to each other with smirks at the cat’s behavior. After a few seconds, Hermione became serious and said, “Well, if that’s any indication…”

When she paused, she didn’t hesitate in leaning up and kissing Harry on his cheek. Then, as she pulled away, she whispered, “Sleep well, Harry.”

Before she could begin to step back into her room, she was surprised when Harry stopped her with a hand on her left shoulder. Thinking he had something important to say, she kept quiet, wanting to let him say whatever he thought was necessary. She grew concerned when he didn’t say anything for at least five seconds, but then he gave her another huge shock.

He gently pulled her forward until her body was flush with his, circling both of his arms around to hold her afterwards. She instinctually wrapped her own arms around him but remained where she could still gaze at him. Then, he leaned in and gave her a gentle, chaste kiss on the lips, lasting for a few seconds. During the kiss, she blissfully closed her eyes at how he was already willing to show his affection like this. When he pulled his mouth away, instead of letting her go, he imitated one of her actions from the forest by touching his forehead to hers. Somehow, this felt more intimate from him than his actual kiss.

Then, as they stared into each other’s eyes, he lovingly whispered, “Sleep well, Hermione. And thank you for always looking out for me.”

She gave him a caring smile and placed her left hand on his cheek. “I always will, Harry.”

He responded with a small smile of his own as they stood there for at least another minute, neither wanting this moment to end. Neither also realized that a head was poking out into the hall and had watched the entire sequence of events.

Finally, with a reluctant sigh, he let her go and slowly walked backwards into his room, shutting the door just enough that there was room for Crookshanks to exit.

When Hermione entered her own room and closed her door, she leaned backwards into it and sighed with contentment. So many things had happened today, and never would she forget the events that led to her and Harry actually officially getting together. Even if she died in her sleep tonight, nothing could ever take away the pure jubilation that her heart and soul were feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time! Hopefully, the events that took place on this day justify the length. The moment where Harry and Hermione finally get together should always be a high point in these stories.
> 
> On a note about the future, the upload rate may slow down for later chapters. I'm pretty far into writing Chapter 6 right now, but I've also hit a roadblock where I almost may have to go back through and change a lot of it. That combined with the fact that January is always the month where we're most swamped with tasks at my job means I can't guarantee the next chapter will be up in a week like all these previous chapters have been. Not sure how many of you may care, but I wanted to say something just in case.
> 
> For all that have made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!


	6. A Day of Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to whrutledge for his opinions on a large part of this chapter. Unfortunately, he has also deleted his account in the time between now and that when he helped me out with this chapter, which was a little less than 2 weeks ago. There's more I wish I could say, but... frankly, it would probably be a breach of trust.
> 
> To Rutledge himself, if you do ever happen to see this, thank you for all the wonderful feedback you always gave on Discord for my writing. And I sincerely hope the best for you from here on out. Take care.
> 
> Anyway, let's start the show again, shall we?

The temptations from Hermione’s heart were in full force this morning.

When Harry walked into the living room and sat down in the armchair, it took all of her willpower not to either get up from the sofa and snuggle up with him, or go pull him over from the armchair to sit next to her. There was no way that her parents wouldn’t have had many questions, or maybe would start teasing them a little, about her behavior if she did so. She wanted to wait until Harry was ready for certain to reveal the new step in their relationship. Plus, on a lighter note, the cat would no doubt get angry since he was lying in her lap at that moment.

Once her mum and dad had left for the kitchen, however, Harry got up on his own and sat down on her left side, leaving no space between them. Crookshanks looked up at the disturbance and, seeing Harry on the sofa, stood up and shifted his position so that he could lie down and stretch out in both of their laps.

Hermione shook her head with mirth, then let out a quick laugh when Crookshanks began to purr after Harry started scratching him. “I see he’s trained you well.”

Harry smirked at her, while not stopping the attention he was giving the orange cat, and said, “At least he likes me enough to want to train me. He apparently stayed with me the whole night, since he was still lying on the bed when I woke up. And I guess he came down here while I was in the shower.”

She just happily nodded at Harry’s words. Then, knowing that they would have at least fifteen minutes before breakfast would be ready, she snuggled as close as she could into Harry’s side before laying her head on his right shoulder. Harry leaned his head against hers a few seconds later.

She heard him say, “You sure you want to sit like this? Your parents could always come back into the living room at any moment.”

Without lifting her head, she answered, “We’ll hear their footsteps in the hall, and I have no intentions of falling asleep this time. Besides, we could always blame Crookshanks for not letting us separate.”

Harry laughed at her reply, causing the cat to look up in annoyance from having his attentions be interrupted. Then, Harry jokingly whispered, “Seems I might be a bad influence on you, Miss Granger, if you’re willing to stoop so low as to blame your cat.”

Without missing a beat, Hermione fired back in the same tone. “You only just now figured that out? I did break us into the third-floor corridor in first year, when Malfoy tried to set you up with that fake duel. Not to mention stealing ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape in second year, and illegally using a Time-Turner to save your fugitive godfather in third year. One could say that I was just a meek little bookworm before meeting you.”

She grew concerned when, after a few seconds of silence, she felt his head pull away and then heard him sigh. Lifting her own head to look at him, she found him staring down at the floor. She had to ask, “Harry, what’s wrong? Did I say something bad?”

This caused him to turn to her and shake his head. “No, Hermione, it’s not you. Just… hearing you lay things out in a row like that really does put into perspective how much you’ve done for me, and all the risks you’ve taken for me.” When he finished, his gaze shifted back to the floor.

She stared at him for a couple of seconds before putting her left hand on his shoulder. When he faced her again, she placed her right hand on his cheek in a loving caress.

As his eyes softened a bit, she whispered, “And if I had to do it all over again for us to be here right now, I would do so without hesitation. You don’t ever have to feel guilty that I care for you, Harry.”

He gave her a sad smile and said, “It’s hard not to with everything that’s happened in our lives, but I’ll try.”

Her instant, affectionate reply was, “That’s all I ask. And if you slip up, I’ll be right there for you.”

He gave the tiniest of nods. Hermione gave his shoulder a squeeze before pulling her hands back.

Then, a sudden idea popped into her head. It would give her a chance to not only finally give him that long-overdue apology for sixth year but also to see if he would talk about something related to his words from that night in the common room. Plus, the idea would allow them to be away from the house in case he wouldn’t want to talk too deeply about things around her parents. He must have seen the light bulb turn on above her head, because he asked, “What are you thinking about?”

She quietly answered, “How would you feel about going for a walk, since the snow stopped at some point after we went to bed? There’s a church about twenty minutes away from here at a walking pace. It has some outside benches by the main entrance underneath a big awning so that they don’t get wet. There… there are some things that I need to say, and going there would let us more easily be alone. And before you start getting crazy ideas in that easily-guilt-tripped mind of yours: no, it won’t be any kind of breakup speech on my part.”

Harry had been looking quite pensively at her, but her last statement caused him to snort in amusement. “Yep, you definitely know me better than anyone.”

He then turned completely serious as he replied, “Yeah, we can do that. You listened to me yesterday, so I’ll listen to you for as long as you want me to. Now, I was hoping that we could go ahead and tell your parents about us after we all finish eating. What do you say we head out after taking care of that?”

Hermione nodded. “Yes, that sounds good.”

They both leaned back against the sofa at that point, and Harry resumed his scratching of Crookshanks, who immediately started purring again now that he was the center of attention. Hermione was content to just sit there and enjoy the moment. And a few minutes later, her father appeared at the living room entrance and told them that the food was ready.

Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair. Miranda did ask if the two had anything planned for the afternoon, to which Hermione responded that she and Harry were going for a walk through the neighborhood sometime after breakfast, staying close to the church once they arrived there. Miranda nodded at the plan but said to make sure to watch out for any patches of ice along the way. Hermione snorted in her mind at her mum’s worry but, after the words from last night and Harry’s reaction to how her parents saw him as important enough to worry over, she would never say a bad thing about it.

Once everyone had finished their meal, however, things took a sharp turn for the unexpected.

As Miranda took all the plates, Jack suddenly said, “If you two wouldn’t mind, could you stay in here for a bit? There’s something we would like to discuss.”

Harry and Hermione both turned to each other for a second in pure confusion. Once Miranda made her way back to her seat at the table, she looked at the children and added, in a suspiciously innocent tone, “So, everything went well yesterday, correct?”

Hermione didn’t understand what was going on. As soon as she and Harry came home, he told them that his talk with her about his nightmare went great. Why would her mum suddenly ask about that again? And what was it that her dad meant when he said there was something to discuss?

Unless…

Every one of Hermione’s fears flared up at her next thought. Could her parents already know about her and Harry? And… were they actually about to tell the two of them off about it, even after everything they had said to her about being happy with her progress with him?

Meanwhile, Harry said with great hesitance, “Well, it did, but there _is_ still something that Hermione and I wanted to talk about with the two of you today.”

Miranda immediately interjected, smirking all the while. “And would this something be related to the kiss that you two shared in the hall last night?”

They _did_ know, Hermione thought. She looked at Harry to gauge his reaction and found him appearing more frightened than even when he’d seen her parents at King’s Cross. All of her protective instincts for him ignited at once. And if this ended up being the last time she was ever on good terms with her parents, then so be it.

Hermione turned back to her parents with the harshest expression she’d ever given them, actually making them blink in surprise at the extreme change. Then, she scooted her chair as close to Harry as possible and took hold of his right hand. Though she didn’t look at him, she did give his hand a quick squeeze, trying to signal to him that she would be with him through whatever her parents may say.

She spoke with more vitriol than ever before, “Yes, Harry and I are now together. No, I will not now, nor will I ever, give him up no matter what objections you are about to give. I would have thought you would both be happy about this after the talk we had in the car two days ago.” She then locked her eyes directly onto her mother. “Especially you, Mum, given what your own family put you through for wanting to be with Dad.”

Harry tried to speak, in a soft voice. “Hermione – “

She immediately turned to him and interrupted, “ _No_ , Harry! I know what you’re going to say. That I shouldn’t ruin my relationship with my parents for you.” Her voice then began to tremble after she reached over with her remaining free hand to grab and hold his other one. “No words can ever truly express just how happy I am that you are willing to be with me and see how far our relationship can go. And if we somehow don’t work out in the future, as slim as a possibility I think that even is, then we’ll figure that out. But we’ll do it ourselves, not by anyone else forcing us. I gave up my family once for you already when I hadn’t even realized my actual feelings for you. And I absolutely would do it again if I needed to.”

Harry was looking at her in total astonishment, like he couldn’t believe that she would say all of that right in front of her parents so soon. They were so engrossed with one another, and Hermione too wrapped up in her speech to Harry, that they completely missed the knowing smirks that had reached the faces of the room’s other two occupants.

They didn’t, however, miss the resounding chuckle from Jack and his statement afterwards, causing them to turn their heads. “Like mother like daughter, indeed. Didn’t I tell you last night to expect this, Miranda? Though I must admit, the sheer intensity still took me by surprise.”

Miranda replied, somewhat sheepishly, “Yes, I suppose that’s what I get for wanting to tease a little first, rather than just coming right out with everything.”

She then gave Hermione a heartfelt smile and said, “Hermione… yes, we were certain that you and Harry had finally made things official. Your talk last night wasn’t as silent as you may have thought it was, and I got curious. I watched the two of you kiss, and I assumed the reason why before immediately telling your father. But it’s like what you even brought up. How could you ever think that we are anything except completely happy for the two of you?”

Jack immediately added, “Your mother was so ecstatic that she had to muffle herself to keep from squealing. I saw her clap a hand over her mouth, and she also told me that she had to bite down on both sides of the inside of her mouth.”

Hermione was utterly baffled at the change of events, and embarrassed that she had read things so incorrectly. In her silence, Harry was actually the first to respond, in a fearful tone. “So, you’re not angry about what happened in the hall last night? Or that I’m with Hermione now?”

Jack looked over to him and spoke as seriously as he could, “Well, we already know Hermione’s feelings in this matter. So, I’ll ask you one question, Harry… are you happy?”

Harry’s instant reply was somehow soft yet also resolute. “Hermione wanting to go out with me made me feel more joy than I ever have before in my life.”

Hermione couldn’t help giving his hands a squeeze at his declaration, causing him to face her again and then give her a smile.

Jack and Miranda glanced at each other for a second before standing from their seats and moving to the other side of the table. Once they were there, she quietly asked, “Would you both stand up, please?”

Letting go of each other’s hands as they did what she asked, Harry and Hermione were surprised when Miranda quickly wrapped them both up in a hug. Then, she said, “Then we wish you both all the happiness in the world.”

She held the two tightly for a few more seconds before letting them go. Jack stepped up to Hermione and gave her a big hug for a few seconds. When he looked to Harry afterwards, he held out his right hand, to which Harry hesitantly reached out but then firmly took. At that point, Jack got a thoughtful look on his face for an instant before shocking Harry by pulling him in and wrapping the other arm around his shoulders for a hug.

Then, Jack whispered for only the two of them to hear, “Don’t ever let go of that happiness. You deserve it for all that you’ve had to suffer.”

Harry was at such a loss for words, he could only meekly reply, “Th-thank you.”

The older man patted his back a couple of times before finally stepping away.

Hermione wasn’t sure what her father may have said, but when Harry looked to her with eyes shining from tears and a genuine smile, it made her more jubilant than ever that she’d convinced him to stay with her for the holidays. She couldn’t help flashing him a beaming smile of her own in response.

But then, remembering how this entire moment started, she turned back to her parents and asked, “So, if it wasn’t actually the fact that Harry and I are now a couple, then what did you mean when you said there was something to discuss?”

Jack and Miranda looked at one another before he said, “I’ll take it from here, and you’ll jump in if you have anything to add?”

She nodded without a word, and they both turned back to the children.

“So,” Jack continued, “there are two main points to hit,” and he held up two fingers for an instant. “First off, any excessive displays of affection should be done in the privacy of your rooms. Basically, if it’s something you wouldn’t want to catch the two of us doing,” as he gestured between himself and Miranda, “then it’s probably a good idea to not do it in one of the public rooms.”

Harry and Hermione both blushed, but then Hermione realized at least one thing she could do. She circled her left arm around Harry’s waist and snuggled into his side as much as possible before then laying her head on his shoulder. She couldn’t see his blush deepen and an embarrassed smile grow on his face.

She then asked, “So, something like this is alright?”

With zero hesitation, Miranda did the same actions with Jack before cheekily responding, “I don’t know, sweetheart. Is it?”

Hermione and her father both snorted at the same time at her mother’s teasing, but she nodded and said, “Yes. It is.”

As Miranda stopped her own cuddling but remained standing at Jack’s side, Hermione then continued. “Alright, that’s point one. Then what is point number two?”

Jack’s expression became a bit sterner as he replied, “Point number two… once things between you two go far enough, and we’re both certain they will,” to which the teenagers turned as red in the face as a tomato, “you better be using protection for at least as long as you two are still in school. While you may be nineteen, and we know that Harry is eighteen, you’ve both still got enough time that you don’t need to be worrying about an unplanned pregnancy while still finishing your academics. Now, am I correct in assuming that there are magical means of contraception?”

Hermione just silently nodded.

“Good,” he continued, “then make sure you two can use those without a hitch. Of course, if you would rather have regular means of protection, or just want them in addition, Miranda and I won’t mind getting those if you tell us. And once you two have graduated from Hogwarts, all I’ll say is that whatever you do then is your choice.”

Even though this was nothing like what he would expect from the father of someone he would be dating, Harry still couldn’t help feeling fearful about what would happen if Hermione’s parents ever caught them in such a position.

Jack saw the obvious look of terror in Harry’s expression and said, “Harry, I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking if the fear in your eyes says anything. And I can assure you, you have nothing to worry about from Miranda or myself if you two progress to that level of a relationship. If anything, while she’ll try to keep things to a level that you are more comfortable with, we’re quite certain that our daughter is more likely to be the initiator of any steps like that. I wouldn’t doubt that, if it were all up to her, you would probably be moving into her room this very night.”

Hermione pulled her head off of Harry’s shoulder and pouted at her father’s initial implication, and then deepened her pout when Harry began laughing after the last remark. But his laugh was so infectious and endearing that she couldn’t help smiling at the sight.

After about thirty seconds, he got his giggles under control. Looking to his right to see Hermione happily staring up at him, he gave another embarrassed grin before shrugging his left shoulder.

They turned back to her parents when Miranda spoke up. “Other than those points, what the two of you do is all up to you. Is that fair?”

Harry timidly said, “It almost seems unfair to you. I wouldn’t think…”

He paused, being a bit afraid to continue his previous thought, but then Miranda spoke up with exactly what was on his mind. “You wouldn’t think the parents of your girlfriend would ever allow you to snog or even touch her anywhere in their house?”

His face turned red once again as he uncomfortably nodded.

“Well first,” she continued, “I refer you to my husband’s earlier words about our daughter.”

Hermione interjected, “Did I miss a memo that said today was ‘Pick on Your Daughter Day’ somehow?”

Miranda smirked but ignored the interruption. “And second,” smirk then changing into a warm smile, “you’re both adults. Adults that have faced more trials than any person ever should. And like we said earlier, we want the two of you to be happy. That really is the long and short of it.”

Harry once again seemed overwhelmed at the consideration that Miranda and Jack were willing to give him, even though they had only known him in person for a few days.

After a few seconds of silence, with his eyes glancing between the two teenagers, Jack spoke again. “So, beyond that, do you two have any questions?”

Hermione looked to Harry with the question in her eyes. His eyes glanced away for a second before he then barely shook his head. She turned back to her parents and quietly said, “No, no questions.”

Miranda responded, “Then be safe and have fun on your walk today. And remember what I said about icy spots.”

Feeling the conversation had reached its end, Hermione looked at Harry and nudged her head towards the kitchen entrance. He nodded, and they made their way to their rooms. They both put on their shoes, jackets, and gloves, while Hermione also grabbed her knit hat. And a minute later, after saying goodbye to her parents in the living room, they were outside and standing on the sidewalk in front of her house.

Staring at each other, Hermione was the first to speak. “Well. That was certainly something.”

Harry shook his head a bit and replied, “No kidding. My luck is never supposed to be this good. It’s why I was expecting your parents to kick me out of the house after your mum implied that they already knew about us.”

She firmly said, “They wouldn’t have, and I badly missed the mark when my first thought was that they were going to object to us as a couple. But even if they somehow did want you to leave, then I would have just left with you.”

He simply gave her a sad smile. She knew he was probably thinking about not deserving such kindness from her, but she kept quiet since he was at least trying not to say anything outright about it.

Deciding to get a move on, since she already had enough serious things to talk about, she moved to his right side and linked her arm into his. Then, she asked, “Well, shall we get going? I’ll try to keep us on the sidewalk as much as possible.”

He just nodded, and with that, she began leading them on their way.

For most of the time, they simply basked in the tranquil silence, only ever seeing a couple of cars driving down the road while the two of them made their journey. At one point, Harry brought up how peaceful the whole area seemed, with the snow-covered houses and lawns, and no other people around. He mentioned that it was as though the entire world decided to stop and just enjoy being with family for a day. She agreed and said that she always got that feeling of serenity when snow arrived during the Christmas holidays. That feeling was amplified this year, after so much time of darkness and uncertainty.

Soon enough, they arrived at the church. As the parking lot was completely empty, Hermione figured they should be safe from prying eyes and ears. She walked them over to one of the benches that she had talked about, sitting close to the entrance. After making sure that the bench was completely dry and then casting a warming charm so that they wouldn’t be too cold, they took a seat. Facing forward and looking out towards the road, Hermione couldn’t help closing her eyes and taking a deep and slightly shaky breath. She was a bit startled when she felt Harry place his right hand on top of her left, and she turned to look at him.

His expression betrayed his concern before he even spoke. “Hermione, I know you said you wanted to talk, but what’s wrong? What’s got you worried?”

After about five seconds of silence, she spoke with dread in her voice. “There are a couple of things, Harry. One is about something that hit me while sleeping last night and won’t go away, and the other is something I owe to you. The first part is also a question I want to ask you, so it’s completely up to you if you would rather not give an answer.”

While he was confused at what she might be referring to, he immediately replied, “Hermione, if anyone on the planet has earned the right to ask me anything, it’s you. And as far as you owing me anything, I can’t think of what that could possibly be, but I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”

She nodded and then looked around. Seeing no one in the area, she quickly pulled out her wand and muttered, “ _Muffliato._ ” It wouldn’t do for a random passerby to hear about anything related to the magical world.

Stowing her wand back in her jacket, Hermione steeled herself and then came out with it. “Well, last week in the common room, the thing that you said hurt the most about the holiday break was not having anyone to spend it with. But… what about Teddy? He’s still your godson. Couldn’t you have gone to see him?”

Her anxiety intensified when his face fell, eyes glancing away, and he pulled his hand off of hers. Something had happened between the end of the war and now. All she could say, however, was a slightly quivering, “Harry?”

He closed his eyes and murmured, “I knew I should never have kept this hidden from you all this time.”

At that point, his gaze locked back onto her as he said, with nothing but sadness in his tone, “Teddy and his grandmother Andromeda are dead.”

She put her hands over her mouth in shock. After a couple of seconds, she lowered her arms and could only say, “What?! When? How?”

He sighed and began the story. “I found out while we were planning the trip to Australia. I had sent a letter to Andromeda talking about Remus and Tonks, trying to give whatever condolences I could, and then asking if she would be OK with me visiting sometime to see Teddy. But the only response letter I eventually got was from Kingsley, who must have been receiving anything mailed to Tonks or her family at that point. In it, after offering his apologies, he said that they learned what happened to Teddy and Andromeda from Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix’s husband, when Kingsley and the remaining Aurors were interrogating all the Death Eaters to learn their exact crimes.”

Harry’s voice began to shake at this point. “Tonks was killed by Bellatrix, her aunt, in the battle. But before being killed, she was first tortured with the Cruciatus Curse. Bellatrix, deciding that the whole family needed to die at this point, then used a Legilimency probe while Tonks was too incapacitated to defend. Bellatrix found out not only where her sister was staying but also that Tonks had a child there. Only then did the bitch kill Tonks.

“Apparently, Bellatrix found Rodolphus after that and had him use Legilimency to watch the memories of what she had learned. Then, they rushed as quickly as they could to the first area where they could Apparate off the grounds and arrive at the house. They overpowered Andromeda, found Teddy, and killed them before coming back to Hogwarts. At least I know that you were able to kill Bellatrix when, while she was battling you, Luna, and Ginny in the Great Hall, you caught her unawares with a Banishing Charm and blasted her headfirst into the wall after she took a moment to taunt you three. And Rodolphus got his when all the remaining Death Eaters were executed as punishment for all of their crimes from both wars. Not that it really means much, though. The only solace is that Teddy should be with his parents now. And even then, it’s hardly a solace at all because it means they’re all still dead…”

As Harry went silent and turned his head away, Hermione’s vision was being blurred by the tears in her eyes. How could this have been allowed to happen to such innocent people? And then, she gasped at a sudden thought, causing Harry to turn back to her with a mixture of grief and puzzlement. Suddenly, so many things made so much more sense.

She barely managed to choke out, “That’s why you said you had no family to spend time with. And why you felt you had no purpose. You thought that you would still have your godson to visit and possibly help take care of, but even that was torn away from you. And it’s why your thoughts about having no purpose hit you when you left Australia, didn’t they? Because you had something to focus on while we were preparing to find my parents.”

He scooted closer to her and pulled her into a hug. It was amazing to her that he was the one having to relive painful memories but was also trying to comfort _her_.

He responded with only a single, grief-stricken word in her ear. “Yeah.”

Her tears began streaming like a river at his response. But she wasn’t finished, either. “And, and that’s why you’ve been so afraid that I will leave you, isn’t it? Because you think that you would fall right back into your misery again.”

His voice trembled even more as he answered, “Yes.”

She immediately wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around him and sputtered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Harry. I wish I could just take all your pain away. You don’t deserve to have so many losses in your life.”

His wordless reply was to simply tighten his hold around her. She buried her head into his shoulder and silently cried for him and all the family that he lost so quickly.

Eventually, she felt him pull his head back, so she lifted hers off of his shoulder. As she looked up at him with sad eyes, though his own expression was still full of sorrow, a flash of resolution passed for an instant. Then, he wiped the tears off of her cheeks before lowering his forehead down to hers and holding it there.

“Hermione, you’ve already helped so much,” he said, his voice becoming steadier. “You’ve never given up on trying to get me to talk, and last Friday night, you finally broke the barrier I’d put around myself. You’ve proven so many times over the last week that you will always be here for me, even at times when I would tell you that I don’t deserve such consideration. And I meant every word when I said that yesterday was the happiest day of my life. So, although I’ve experienced so much pain in my life, and I still don’t know what to really do with my future, I know that I’ll eventually make it through with you.”

Not knowing what to say, Hermione reached up with her left hand and put it on his cheek. The small smile he gave at her action got her mind working again, and she said, “Thank you. Still, I’m sorry you won’t get the chance to know your godson.”

His face showed a mixture of pain and acceptance. He replied, “Like I said, at least the family are all together again, in what I like to think is a better place.”

She whispered in response, “You’re right, they’ll be together. And I’m sure they’ll have your parents and Sirius with them as much as possible, too.”

He didn’t say anything, simply closing his eyes and imagining such a picture with a tiny smile on his face. She gave him a minute of silence, letting him take comfort in the image she painted for him.

His eyes snapped open once she did continue speaking. “And also, I’m sorry that you had to console me when you were the one having to relive your terrible memories.”

The statement caused him to let out a soft chuckle before he replied. “I’m pretty sure I still owe you when it comes to being supportive, considering how many times you’ve already comforted me since that night in the common room.”

What they owed one another… that caused Hermione to remember the other main reason for wanting to talk to Harry. And her expression must have reflected that thought, as he said with concern, “Something I said just gave you some kind of reminder, didn’t it? Like when I got all pensive after you listed out some of the things you’ve done for me in our years of friendship?”

Then, his brow furrowed a bit as he continued, “Wait, you said something earlier about owing me somehow. That’s what you were thinking about, isn’t it?”

She looked at him with a melancholy half-smile and said, “You’re getting good at reading me.” She dropped her hand from his cheek and loosened her other arm, and Harry let her go as she pulled back from their hug.

Before she could start, he jumped in again. “Hermione, I’ll say it again. I don’t think there’s a single thing that you owe me.”

Looking at him dejectedly, she replied, “Yes, Harry. I do.”

Taking a deep breath, she let the cat out of the bag. “I need to apologize for my actions in the summer after fourth year as well as sixth year. I may have brought those up on the train ride, with a bit of focus on that summer, but I didn’t really give you an actual apology, which you deserve.”

She wanted to look away out of shame, but she willed herself to keep her gaze locked onto his eyes. It wouldn’t be a real apology to her otherwise.

“There’s no excuse that could be good enough for what I did to you. When adding how I’ve come to the conclusion that the kiss I gave you on the cheek at the end of fourth year was a way of trying to get you to notice me, it also feels unforgivable. I should never have let you, my best friend, wallow in sadness and have to deal with the aftermath of witnessing both Cedric Diggory’s death and Tom Riddle’s resurrection alone that summer. And my next statement, while I said it on the train, it bears repeating. I should have spat on Dumbledore and spent that entire summer with you, if I truly cared about you.

“And then, in sixth year, I treated you so harshly when I was pursuing Ron, thinking he was a guaranteed choice for a boyfriend. I should have been helping you prepare for the war, but instead, I wasted the year on petty school drama and being mad at you over a simple book, of all things. And the only reason I can think of for my actions was that, after everything in fifth year, I was subconsciously trying to get rid of my feelings for you and ended up going much too far. Again, for someone that has always been my best friend, my treatment of you was absolutely wretched. And I didn’t want too much time to pass with this new step in our relationship without directly telling you that.”

Hermione timidly ended with, “I’m so sorry for how I treated you, Harry. And that’s all I wanted to say.” She finally lost the fight with her overflowing shame, turning her gaze to look at the ground. Now, it was up to him as to how he wanted to proceed.

The silence was heavy, and she shut her eyes in fear of what may happen. They popped open, however, when she felt his hand under her chin. He slowly tilted her head up until they were once again staring into each other’s eyes. His expression was completely serious, but she was unable, for once, to tell if this meant good or ill tidings. Thus, she merely remained silent, not wanting to distract him from whatever was on his mind.

Then, after dropping his hand, he finally spoke in a hushed tone. “That summer, you trusted that Dumbledore would know what is right. We all did so many times, even when he essentially never trusted people with information that was relevant to the war. So, let me ask you this. Knowing what you do now about what was planned for me in regards to Riddle, would you have still trusted him?”

With a hardened expression, her fiery reply was, “Trust a man whose only plan for the war was putting the entire hunt to destroy the Horcruxes on your shoulders, while simultaneously wanting you to just give up and die like a martyr to Riddle when no one could be certain that only the soul piece in your scar would be destroyed? No, I wouldn’t. Frankly, I hope he and Snape are enjoying the fruits of their plan together in hell right now. And I’m kind of insulted that you even asked me that question.”

To her utter confusion, Harry chuckled before he said, “And thus, you prove my exact point. With more knowledge about what was really going on, you would have told Dumbledore to bugger off in a heartbeat. Which is why I’m not going to hold that summer against you, and I’ll say that you never owed me anything for it. Especially not when you were hardly the only one to leave me in the dark but _were_ by far the most apologetic as soon as I arrived at Grimmauld Place. Don’t think that I’ve forgotten how you immediately launched yourself at me and went into how sorry you were before I could walk into the room, even if I was hardly appreciative of it at the time.”

Her eyes widened at how easily he was accepting this. Was it really going to be that simple?

As her mind was reeling, he continued speaking. “And as far as sixth year is concerned…”

He paused, making a pit start to grow in her stomach at what he could have been thinking. But his following question made her emotions flip right back to being totally puzzled. “What would you say if I told you that I had my own hypothesis about what happened between us that year?”

She was so dumbfounded that her first response was merely, “…Huh?”

After he repeated the question, the cogs in her mind finally got to working. She asked, “How could you have a hypothesis? Are you saying that something insidious happened?”

“I’m saying that there’s a few dots I’ve connected that paint a very grim picture about why we were terrible to one another and didn’t seem to trust each other. Of course, I do need to note that it’s also all circumstantial, but those circumstances line up too well to not be suspicious about them. So, would you be willing to hear me out?”

Whatever this was, it had to be terrible for Harry to be this serious about it. She answered, “Of course, Harry. It must be important if you’re so worried.”

He nervously laughed and replied, “Alright, then that leads me to one more question before I go into it, if you’ll indulge me.” She just silently nodded, so he continued. “The perfume you received from Ron for Christmas in 1995, did you ever use it?”

Boy, this day was certainly bringing out all kinds of confusion in her. “Well, yes. I…”

She paused and lightly blushed in embarrassment from what she was about to say. “At the Burrow, in the summer after that Christmas, I pulled the perfume out of my bag when I was unpacking things, not knowing that I’d apparently left it in there sometime after receiving it. Ron was in the room, and when I pulled it out, he asked if I’d used it and what I thought of it. I felt bad when I told him I’d forgotten about it with everything that was happening in fifth year. So, I started using it so that I wouldn’t seem ungrateful, even though I never believed it was a very thoughtful gift.”

So many alarms in her head started blaring when Harry closed his eyes in a grimace and then sadly muttered, “I was afraid of that.”

Hermione instantly said, with a sternness that left no wiggle room, “Alright, Harry. Whatever this hypothesis is that you have, start talking and spare no details. I want to know _everything_.”

“And I’ll tell you all that I have,” he responded. “Just please, unless I specifically ask you a question in the middle of this, let me finish everything I need to say before you interrupt or ask any questions you may have. Is that alright?”

When she nodded her assent, he took a long, deep breath to steel himself and then began. “Alright, so the first point. We know you got that perfume in Christmas of our fifth year. Now, do you remember what you said at that time to Ron about his gift?”

She just shook her head.

“Well, I do. And you specifically told Ron that the perfume was ‘really unusual.’ Doesn’t mean much by itself, but does mean so much more when combined with my later points.”

Hermione was legitimately frightened by Harry’s foreboding words. What was going on, what had he figured out? But she remained silent, keeping her torment to herself so that Harry could run through all of his information.

He continued, “Point number two. The Weasley twins, as new as their joke shop was, already had a line of love potions up and ready for sale. Love potions which they specifically said would have lasted up to twenty-four hours, when Ginny asked whether the potions worked. Love potions that I believe they would have needed to be working on and testing in earlier years in order for the products to have been ready to sell so quickly.”

She could physically feel her blood beginning to run cold as the dots were starting to be connected. No, it couldn’t be…

“Point number three, and the one that will make everything clear for you with how smart you are, assuming you haven’t already figured out what track I’m going down.” He had to take another long breath, as though even he knew this reveal was going to blow her away.

“At one point after the Quidditch match with Slytherin but before the Christmas holidays in sixth year, you yourself told me that Fred and George had an owl order service which could help with smuggling their love potions to people in Hogwarts. And you explicitly said that the potions were being disguised as cough potions or perfumes. Well… what if the ones disguised as perfumes could have been made to _actually_ be used as perfumes, rather than being drunk like a potion normally would? And it goes into effect by seeping into your skin after putting the perfume on, or perhaps even the scent alone is enough to get you to start pining after the person to which the potion is keyed?”

Hermione put her hands over her mouth and slowly shook her head in despair. No, _no_ …

Harry sadly looked at her and said, “Looks like you’re realizing exactly what I did… but there’s still one more point, at least that relates specifically to you.”

She was sure that the look of baffled astonishment on her face when she dropped her hands would have been hilarious at another time, but his expression remained downcast with what he was going to reveal.

He said, “Point number four. After Ron ate all those chocolates spiked with love potion and I took him to Slughorn for an antidote, Slughorn explicitly told me that potions will strengthen the longer they’re kept. Now, if I may ask, did you use the perfume every single day?”

Hermione slowly shook her head and answered, almost in a stupor, “No. I only used it maybe every few days, and it lasted almost until the end of the school year.”

He just gave a gloomy hum in response. Then, he said, “Well, for reference, when Ron ate those chocolates, while the reaction would definitely have been stronger from the potions having been three months old, he also ate the entire batch at once. Thus, it was clear that he was under a potion’s influence because he immediately fell head over heels for Romilda Vane.

“Now, one that sits for over six months should theoretically be even stronger. The question, however, is this… what if a much smaller amount, perhaps such as that one would get from a perfume, wasn’t so plainly obvious? What if a lower dose at any one time meant that the feelings driven by the potion appear to simply be a natural development of feelings, not only to the one under the potion’s influence but also to all those around them? But when combined with the higher strength from being kept for so long, the victim still sees the person that the potion is keyed to as the most likely choice, or even the only choice, to try and get as a significant other?”

And at that point, Harry finally spoke the words she had been dreading to hear from him. “So, I’ll just say it outright… it’s possible that, on Christmas in 1995, you were given a love potion perfume that was keyed to Ron.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relieved to have finally gotten a new chapter posted for this. Hopefully, I can get the next one posted by next week, as well. What originally started as a single chapter ended up having to get split into two, so I've already got most of what will take up Chapter 7 written (though the key word there is "most," unfortunately). That's also why this chapter doesn't finish at the end of the day in the story like all the others have lol. And now, a few developer commentary bits.
> 
> First, regarding the situation with Teddy and Andromeda, I realized I was going to have to do something with them to be consistent with the fact that, before Harry left Australia, he told Hermione that he had no more family. I also didn't want to do anything like Andromeda straight up leaving the country without telling anyone, or just having her forbid Harry to ever come to her house to see her grandson, because that felt like it might be more cruel to Harry to be coldly rejected in a manner like one of those two, rather than having Andromeda simply going out while trying to protect her grandson. I at least like to think my method of how they died is sensible enough that it could have taken place. Or maybe it just is to me (*shrugs*).
> 
> Second, on the potions theory: Hermione telling Ron that the perfume she received is 'really unusual' comes from Chapter 23 of Order of the Phoenix. The first appearance of Fred and George's love potions, along with Ginny asking if they work and the twins saying that the potions will work up to 24 hours, comes from Chapter 6 of Half-Blood Prince. Hermione telling Harry about the owl order service along with potions being disguised as perfumes comes from Chapter 15 of HBP. Finally, Slughorn saying that potions will strengthen when kept for longer comes from Chapter 18 of HBP. Now, the additional extrapolations are all my own, but I didn't just pull them out of the blue. There is legitimate circumstantial evidence from the books themselves that can point to an explanation of potions.
> 
> Third, assuming it hasn't already turned you away, I can assure you that potions are not going to become the main plot of the remainder of the story. Obviously, there will be some discussion during the next chapter given where I ended this one, but the focus of this story is still on Harry and Hermione's deepened relationship and them being there for each other in any way they can.
> 
> Fourth, you may have noticed that slid-in sentence where Bellatrix's death differs from the actual seventh book. That's because in my mind, considering that Neville got to kill Nagini along with telling Riddle to screw off, and Harry was always going to get the credit for killing Riddle, Hermione deserved to be the one to get the kill on Bellatrix and get vengeance for her torture at Malfoy Manor. Especially when canon already had Hermione, Luna, and Ginny fighting Bellatrix together anyway.
> 
> And for everyone that made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!


	7. Go Forward Together

Even after hearing him say it, this didn’t seem real to Hermione. She was staring off past Harry as she fearfully stammered, “You, you think… I was dosed with a love potion?”

“I think that _we_ could have been spiked with love potions that year.”

His blunt response caused another jolting shock to run through her. “ _We_? What do – “

She stopped and remembered one of his earlier points. How Harry specifically spoke of a certain girl asking her brothers if their love potions worked. She whispered, “Ginny. You think Ginny gave you one.”

She knew it was coming, but his melancholy nod filled her with dismay. Then, he replied, “I do, though this one isn’t quite as straightforward as my thought process for you. First off, and what you probably just thought of, I already mentioned how she asked Fred and George if their love potions worked.”

Hermione silently nodded, too dazed to say a word as Harry continued.

“You would think someone’s reaction to finding out their brothers are selling potions that can manipulate minds in a certain manner for any period of time would be more on the indignant and outraged side. Instead, Ginny literally just asked, ‘Do they work?’ It was almost nonchalantly so, and I can’t help but be suspicious about it now.”

He became shamefaced before speaking his next words. “Of course, I can’t really talk since I never spoke up about those potions being sold, either. Not even after I started learning, in my sessions with Dumbledore, how Tom Riddle was a product of a marriage by means of love potions.”

While he wasn’t wrong in his logic, she couldn’t help putting her left hand on top of his right one, needing to do something to comfort him. He glanced at their hands for a second before then giving her a dejected smile, as though he knew what she was trying to do but still thought he wasn’t worthy of it.

She apologetically whispered, “If you recall, I also never really said anything. Not even once I knew that other girls were talking about slipping you a love potion but then told you that I couldn’t do anything when they were just discussing tactics. So, whatever may have really happened in all this, let’s just say that we were both idiots in some respect.”

That caused him to let out a soft chuckle. “Alright, if that’s what you want to do.”

She gently patted his hand twice before pulling hers away. Then, remembering his exact words, she took a slightly shaky breath and said, “OK, as scared as I am about what may come next, I know you have more to say because that previous part was just a first bit.”

He sadly nodded before turning stone-faced and serious again. “Alright then. So, the second thing is the moment when Ron and I were returning from a Quidditch practice before the Slytherin match and caught Dean and Ginny snogging in a corridor. I had such an intense feeling of either hatred or jealousy at that moment that I wanted to throttle Dean on the spot. Even when I was crushing on Cho Chang and thought badly about Cedric for being with her, it never felt anywhere near as consuming as that moment in sixth year did. And looking at it, though the sensation might have been to a stronger degree than what you showed, the jealousy I had for Ginny at that point almost seems to be the same kind of jealousy that you showed in regards to Ron.”

While Hermione couldn’t really make any judgments regarding a comparison, she did agree that Harry feeling such a deep hatred so suddenly towards Dean, who he never really had any problems with before, was quite out of the ordinary.

“Third,” he continued, “when we won the Quidditch Cup that year, I snogged Ginny in full view of everyone in the common room. Does that sound remotely like _anything_ that I would normally do, especially after the only other kiss I’d ever had was that disastrous one with Cho, while we were alone mind you, in the previous year?”

Comparing that interaction to as many others as she could in her mind, she quietly said, “No, you hate being the center of attention, for very valid reasons. And though it’s only been a day, you’ve been quite modest with me. I’m sure you only kissed me last night because you thought we were alone in the hall, and you were still so gentle with the kiss even while thinking that. That one with Ginny appeared more like what Ron did with Lavender.”

He lightly blushed and smiled for an instant at her remarks, but he quickly became somber again. “And you can say that because you know me better than anyone. Which leads to my fourth point: I’m not sure if Ginny ever actually liked _me_ , the daft and damaged boy that is Harry, but rather was infatuated with The Boy Who Lived. The fact that she thought I wouldn’t be happy unless I was hunting Riddle is just pure hero worship. And if her infatuation was large enough, how far out of the realm of possibility is it to think she could see the usage of a love potion as acceptable to get the boy she wants? Especially considering Mrs. Weasley once talked about brewing a love potion when she was younger, Fred and George obviously believe it’s fine to sell love potions, and Ginny’s own somewhat blasé attitude about her brothers selling love potions.”

Hermione could feel despair seeping into her bones again as she whispered, “Not that far at all.” She was bolstered a bit when Harry shifted his right hand to gently hold her left one.

Then, he spoke just as quietly, “So, yeah. Those are all the instances that I thought of. Well, those along with a worst-case scenario that it could have been a mixture of love potions keyed to the Weasleys and some kind of hatred or distrust potion for each other. And while I know that all this could easily be me stretching for things, the circumstances are convenient and suspicious enough that… I couldn’t dismiss out of hand the idea that we may have been given a potion that year.”

Hermione remained silent and turned her head to face the road, not knowing what to say. Harry didn’t say anything as well, as though he was letting her process everything that he told her. After at least a minute, her mind finally started working enough to speak.

In a worried tone, she said, “I wish I could say that you’re being foolish, that it isn’t possible. But you’re not wrong about the circumstances lining up somewhat handily.”

Shifting to look back at Harry, she asked, “How long have you thought about this?”

He squeezed her hand a bit more and answered, “Two nights ago was the first time. One of the things that I thought about when you and your parents were gone was how you’ve always been here for me, even though you said otherwise on the train regarding that summer along with sixth year. At some point once I’d calmed down some after the three of you left me alone that night, I went back to it and couldn’t help thinking how odd it was that we treated each other so much more coldly in sixth year, and how we both seemed to be concentrating too hard on trying to get with Ron and Ginny even though the war was right on the horizon. And that led me down the rabbit hole of thoughts that I’ve now given to you.”

His face fell a little bit more. “And, to be frank, I told myself I wouldn’t bring it up unless it was ever relevant to the discussion, like it is right now with you feeling like you need to apologize for sixth year. Because… how much good does it really do, considering how much of a long shot it might be? First, even if we were somehow potioned to the gills during that year, enough time has passed that the only direct evidence we could ever get would be confessions from the Weasleys. Second, the circumstances I thought of might still be too flimsy for a true investigation, so it would have to be something we did ourselves. That would require us to obtain or brew Veritaserum on our own to use in order to make sure we would get truthful answers, which would put us in hot water given the illegality of using the potion without consent from the Ministry. And if we were able to get away with using it and then found out I was right…”

He paused and closed his eyes, frowning in what appeared to be anger. Hermione’s guess was confirmed when he opened his eyes after a few seconds, a cold fury shining within them. Then, he growled out, “If I ever found out that you _were_ actually given any kind of potion, I wouldn’t rest until I had killed everyone involved in drugging you, no matter who it was.”

Hermione instinctually reached over with her free right hand to take his left. She squeezed his hands to try and calm him down however she could with her presence. He understood her actions immediately, as his gaze softened while he gave her a remorseful smile for a second.

“Sorry,” he said. “I know I shouldn’t have gotten worked up.”

She replied, “It’s OK, Harry. While I obviously hope such a situation would never come up, I know that statement just stemmed from you wanting to look out for and protect me. And,” pausing for a second as she became a bit sheepish, “I admit that it’s kind of flattering that you would be willing to go so far just for me, as bad as that may sound given the reason for the flattery.”

He instantly said, in a soft tone, “Because you’re worth doing anything for.”

She was unable to respond, throat closing up at this showcase of his feelings. Her silence gave him enough time to become more solemn again before he continued speaking.

“But yeah. We’re hardly friends with Ron and Ginny now as it is, for already-tangible reasons. So, I’m not sure how much good it would do to figure out whether this hypothesis could actually be true. But I wanted you to know that the possibility exists. And if you would want to dig into it, I’ll go right along with you and do anything that I can for you.”

At a loss for words again, Hermione shifted her gaze a bit to look up at the awning they were beneath. What did she want to do in the face of this information? If it was true, was she ready to find out that she and Harry had been drugged to have feelings for the people they’d pursued in the previous two years? That Ron was so jealous or insecure that he would stoop to such lengths? Or that Ginny could be obsessed enough that she didn’t care how she got what she wanted as long as she got it?

And if it wasn’t true… if it wasn’t true, Hermione thought as tears began to build in her eyes, was she ready for the knowledge that she really was capable of treating Harry so despicably? That some part of her subconscious truly had wanted to push him away and get rid of the first true friend she ever had?

“Hermione.”

The quiet and anguished word brought her out of her musings. Looking at Harry, his face was filled with nothing but concern. He removed his left hand from her grip before placing it on her cheek.

Then, he pleaded, “Talk to me, please. Tell me whatever’s on your mind. Like I said earlier, I’ll listen to anything you have to say.”

His complete worry about her broke her restraint. As her tears began to fall, she cried out, “And what if it wasn’t true, Harry? What if… what if this is all just wishful thinking on your part, wanting to put me on a pedestal that I don’t deserve? What if my behavior really was nothing more than me treating you horribly and pushing you away? What if I truly am capable of being such a _bitch_ to the one person that always meant more to me than anything?”

And there it was. She admitted her biggest fear strictly regarding herself. If her actions in sixth year were all her own, and not due to being under the influence of a potion, then who’s to say that she couldn’t ever act like that again?

Not paying attention at all to Harry’s surprise at the vehemence with which she cursed herself, she continued tearfully speaking. “I didn’t believe you about Draco Malfoy being a Death Eater, even when all prior evidence about his character suggested that you were probably right and I was being a complete idiot, until it was too late. I called you a cheater for using those handwritten notes from your Potions book, even though I’ve always been the one that thirsted for new and better knowledge. I was the largest bloody hypocrite in the world for calling you a cheater when _I_ truly cheated by using a Confundus Charm on Cormac McLaggen during those Quidditch tryouts to make sure that Ron got on the team. I wasn’t proactive at all in stopping those girls that planned to slip you a potion during sixth year. How can either of us be sure that I would never act like that again if I already did so once?”

Hermione couldn’t say anything more through the gigantic lump in her throat. Thus, she closed her eyes and hung her head in shame, no longer able to look at Harry as her tears continued to flow.

A few seconds later, her eyes snapped open when she felt him place his right hand on her other cheek and gently bring her head up to lock eyes once again. Then, without a word, he began using his thumbs to wipe away the tracks of tears on her face. The loving action only made her silently cry even more. He never said a word, however, and merely continued his actions for however long it took for her tears to finally dry up.

When he was finished, he kept his hands on her cheeks in an affectionate caress. Then, in a whisper, he finally spoke.

“I can be sure. Because, to paraphrase your words to me on the train, your great concern now about having acted like that in the past shows me that you would never act in such a manner in the future.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in disbelief at the absolute trust he held for her. Her throat was still too closed up to speak, giving Harry time to continue.

“Besides, are you really so afraid that I would see that year as the definitive you? Do you think those few incidents cancel out everything you’ve done for me since our friendship began? Do they outweigh all the times that I would be dead without you at my side?”

His voice was growing more resolute through his speech. “Hell, Hermione. Do you think they could even overshadow just the fact that you never left me last year, even though you had every right to go with Ron due to how hopeless everything was? Overshadow how, while the person that I thought was my best friend lost faith in me and abandoned me for a second time, you still stayed despite all odds being against us? Despite the fact that you had tried to make Ron see you as a potential girlfriend in sixth year, and how I still assumed that Ron was who you wanted until you told me otherwise once Riddle was dead?”

He pulled his right hand off of her face but then circled his arm around her to pull her into his body. “And could _anything_ ever outweigh the fact that you’ve stayed with me despite the numerous times over these years that I was a prat to you and deserved to lose your friendship?”

If her throat closed up any more, Hermione felt that her neck might just implode on itself. His rhetorical questions were finally starting to wash away the terror within her, replacing it with hope.

Then, he wrapped his other arm around her and held her tightly before continuing. “Yes, your actions in sixth year do seem out of character compared to so many things before and since that year. And frankly, that’s a large reason as to why it was so easy for me to think that at least one potion, if not more, could have played a part in our behavior. But if you still worry that all of those actions were still your own, and that you could ever conceivably act like that again, then I’ll simply say this…”

When he paused for a second, she felt like she was on pins and needles at whatever his next statement would be.

Then, he whispered, “If there’s anyone or anything that I have the utmost faith in, it’s you, Hermione. I want to be with you, through whatever highs and lows there are. And I won’t go anywhere. I promise.”

Though she could feel tears flowing again, they were the happy variety this time. Her heart and soul were strengthened so much by his words that she couldn’t stop the large smile from growing on her face as she wrapped her own arms around him. Then, she leaned in and took his lips with hers, and the two lost themselves in a deep and affectionate kiss for a minute.

When they pulled their heads away to look at each other, she gratefully whispered, “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

He quietly said, “I had a good teacher in your example. You’ve never steered me wrong before, and I doubt you ever will.”

She giggled and replied, “Still can’t take a compliment without having to put someone else over you, can you?”

He gave her a smirk. “You know, you’re in that club too, Miss Granger. Considering how happy you were about telling your parents how I’m actually challenging you for your top spots in class.”

Though her tone was playful, her eyes and expression were all too serious. “Maybe that just means we’re good for each other, then. Since we always want to build the other person up before our own selves.”

Harry became speechless at her statement and just gave her a thankful smile. Then, he hugged her as closely as he could to him, placing his chin on her shoulder. She tightened her own hold in response, content to sit there in happiness within his arms.

After some time, the two separated to look at each other. They had the same expressions of care and love on their faces.

Harry was the first to speak. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Teddy before today. Thank you for caring enough to want to ask about him. And I appreciate that you were willing to apologize for something you felt you had done wrong, even though there was no apology necessary.”

Hermione replied, “Thank you for being willing to open up to me about Teddy when I know you haven’t told anyone else about him. And thank you for thinking so highly of me that you feel no apology is necessary for sixth year or that summer after fourth year.”

He smiled at her but then quickly became grim again after a few seconds. “So, I do have to ask. My hypothesis about potions… do you want to try and dig further into it to see if it’s true?”

She just stared at him for a few seconds, causing him to start turning nervous under her gaze. But then, she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss, and he lightly blushed when she pulled back after two seconds.

“Like you said,” she told him, “it’s not like we’re close to the Weasleys anymore, what with me not being able to take Ron’s abandonment, and you telling Ginny in no uncertain terms that you would never be with her because she knows nothing about you. Beyond that, if the potions are legal to sell out in the open on Diagon Alley, you’re probably right about the circumstances you lined up not being enough for an official inquiry. And…”

She started choking up a bit but forced through the lump in her throat before it could settle. “And the fact that it wouldn’t matter to you if my actions that year were all my own and not caused by being under the influence of a potion or spell…”

She placed her left hand on his cheek and said, “Now, let me ask you something. Are you sure you wouldn’t want to find out for _your_ sake? You’re as much a part of this as I am, and I’ll be willing to help you if you would.”

He shrugged a shoulder and replied, “Like I sort of said earlier, I don’t think I do. The main reason I brought the hypothesis up is because I wanted to show you the possibility that there could have been outside forces in something that you felt you had done wrong, since you’re afraid that I’ll think badly of you in the future for that one year.”

At his response, her eyes glanced down for a second before locking onto him again. Then, she hesitantly asked, “Well, in that case… would you think less of me if I said that maybe we should just let it remain a hypothesis? That we don’t need to spend any more time thinking on the Weasleys?”

Her eyes widened a slight amount before her next statement. “Especially considering that I know you weren’t joking with that earlier vow to kill anyone involved.”

He shook his head slightly. “Not at all, Hermione. It’s your call, and I’ll gladly follow your lead on it. And…”

He paused, making her worry a little about what he might say next, but she needn’t have.

“No matter what may have happened in sixth year, know that I don’t really blame you at all if you thought you might have to push me away to get rid of your feelings. I know I was a prat for not realizing that I already had such a wonderful girl at my side for years. That’s just one more reason why I’m thankful that you’ve _stayed_ at my side through everything that’s happened to you because of me.”

She wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to the warmth that filled her soul when he would show how highly he thought of her. Rather than saying anything, she simply leaned up to his forehead and gave a kiss to his scar. His embarrassed smile when she pulled back only gave her more happiness at his adorable shyness.

She whispered, “So… leave the past behind, and reach forward for the future?”

He quietly answered, “Yeah. I can go with that plan.”

She dropped her hand from his cheek but then leaned in and took his lips with her own in a long, gentle kiss. When she pulled away, the tender smiles on each of their faces said everything that was needed.

Then, an idea hit her that she couldn’t drop. “Actually, speaking of the future, this issue gives me an idea of something we could still do.”

He became slightly confused but merely asked, “What is it?”

“We should master, nonverbally and wandlessly so that no one will realize what’s happening, how to detect magical properties in anything we consume. Or even, in the case of something like perfume, something we just put on ourselves.”

She turned her gaze upwards a bit as she grew more thoughtful about what they could do. Becoming lost in her mind at a new academic challenge for her, she continued speaking.

“ _Specialis Revelio_ should work for spells and hexes that could have been placed in objects. Scarpin’s Revelaspell will help to identify ingredients that can be used in a potion, which could be useful. But I also don’t know if it would work the same way for potions laced into something else. And I don’t know any other spells for potion detecting. Hmm, maybe we could create our own. I somehow managed to do that with the Four-Point Spell that you used in the Triwizard Tournament, with an easy incantation of just _Point Me_. I wonder if we could do that for a potion detector with its own equally simple incantation, like _Show Potions_. Maybe even add a poison detector that uses _Show Poisons_ specifically for venomous or generally dangerous things that may have been added. I suppose we’ll just have to experiment and find out.”

Though Hermione was too concentrated on her possible plan to notice, Harry grinned for a second at watching her work through her thought process. His increased study habits had given him a greater appreciation for her drive to learn new things. Not to mention, now that she had started pulling him out of his overwhelming misery from earlier in the year, he found it cute how she could get excited or on a roll like this. He remained silent, though, so that she could keep talking.

“And frankly, now that I think about it, this is something we probably should have been doing before now, regardless of your hypothesis about Ron and Ginny. You’ve only gotten more famous in the magical world for being credited with killing Riddle, so it honestly seems like a minor miracle that we haven’t had to deal with the same problems as sixth year of other girls trying to slip you potions.”

Then, she sadly frowned a bit at her next thought as she looked back at Harry, knowing what the words would probably do to him. “Of course, that could be because everyone knows it would be way too suspicious for you to suddenly develop feelings for anyone when I’m the only person that you allowed to even be at arm’s length.”

And like clockwork, Harry’s face began to fall at the reminder of his behavior throughout this school year, and he turned his head away. But he looked back at her in confusion when she placed a hand on top of his. Then, with a bit of sternness in her eyes, she just slowly shook her head a few times.

He still appeared to be a bit ashamed, but his voice was that soft tone that lifted her heart. “I know, I shouldn’t keep thinking that I deserve to be alone for what I’ve done. And I’m sorry that you’ve had to keep reminding me of that so many times since last Friday night.”

Softening her own expression, she patted his hand a couple of times. Then, as she pulled her hand away, she replied, “Hey, like I’ve said, I’ll keep doing it no matter how many times you may slip up.”

He gave an amused snort for an instant. After another second, he turned serious again and continued speaking.

“But back on topic. You’re absolutely right with your reasoning about detecting potions. And also… you muttered to yourself in one of our last study sessions at Hogwarts about wishing that wandless magic was being taught in our class curriculums. Maybe while working to find or make those detection spells, we can also do some wandless practice with some of our simpler spells to break up the routine if we hit a wall with the potion spells. And we could move on with more advanced wandless spells if we successfully use the earlier ones quickly enough. Maybe we can even start our work while at your house, since we’ll still be away from Hogwarts for more than a week. What do you say?”

Her eyes went wide with happiness as she flashed him a beaming smile, which caused him to chuckle since it was all the answer he needed. Still, to be clear, she exclaimed, “Yes, I would love that!”

She couldn’t believe that not only did he hear her when she really had only intended that statement as a comment to herself, but he also remembered it even with everything he was going through. First reading the history book, and now wanting to do independent study with her even on holiday. Her heart overflowed with happiness at this display of his love for her, even if he hadn’t said the words.

Thus, she couldn’t help sealing their agreement with another kiss. When they pulled apart this time, she remained just a couple of inches away from him, losing herself in his emerald eyes.

Then, she whispered with as much warmth as she could muster, “I love you, Harry.”

He visibly choked up and remained silent for a few seconds. Wanting to reassure him, she put her right hand at the back of his head and slowly pushed his forehead down until it was touching hers. Then, she said, “Harry, you don’t have to say the actual words if you aren’t ready. Your actions already tell me more than enough.”

He let out a nervous laugh. “You’re probably the only person on the planet that would ever say that.”

She responded with complete tenderness, “Because I know you spent so long believing you never had a future, and aren’t sure what to do now that you have a chance for one, that there’s a part of you that still thinks this may not be real. Because I still hold to my words about never asking for more than what you were willing to give. And because I’m confident enough in our relationship that I simply just want you to know how I feel, and I’ll never think badly of you for not being ready to say those words.”

“But still,” he said with a bit of frustration, “it… it feels so stupid that I’m choking up on the words when I know that I care about you, want to be with you, and want you to be happy. Especially considering that’s the second time you’ve told me.”

“Harry,” she soothingly replied, “they’re just words. They don’t mean anything without the actions to back them up. And like I just mentioned, your actions tell me everything.”

She put her left hand on his cheek again. “So, don’t fret about not being able to say the words. I can wait as long as it takes for you to be ready.”

He closed his eyes, overwhelmed with emotion. A single tear began to fall down the right side of his face. Like they’d been doing for each other, Hermione gently wiped it away with her thumb. This caused him to smile a bit and open his eyes.

Then, he whispered, “I’m so glad that you came into my life, Hermione.”

She replied just as quietly, “And I’m glad that you entered mine, Harry.”

Keeping her forehead touching his, she pulled her hands away but then moved her left hand to rest on top of his right. And for a time, the two of them sat there like that. Neither wanted to budge and end this moment, happy to pull comfort from simply being with each other.

Eventually, with a reluctant sigh, Harry lifted his head off of hers. He glanced away to the road for a second before saying, “What do you say about heading back?”

Checking the wristwatch that she remembered to put on this morning, she saw that it was already past noon. She gave him a nod before looking to make sure no one was around and then pulling out her wand. After she ended the muffling spell and warming charm, she put her wand away as they both stood from the bench. Then, she linked her arm into his, and the two began their journey back to the house.

This walk was slower than the previous one. The two of them went at a much more leisurely pace as they enjoyed the sounds of the neighborhood, like a car passing down the road every so often, or a parent and child playing. Days like this were what made Hermione thankful for everything she had gone through to help Harry finally destroy Riddle, so that no one else would ever have to go through such fear and terror as the previous few years.

Once they were in front of her house, she unlinked herself from him as they were walking to the front door. She stopped in confusion after a few paces, however, when she realized he wasn’t at her side anymore. Turning around, she found him with his back to her, standing on the sidewalk with his head tilted so that he was looking slightly up into the sky.

She had to ask, “Harry? Is something wrong?”

He glanced over his shoulder for just a second before saying, “No, Hermione. I’m just… I never got to just enjoy the tranquility of a neighborhood during the holidays like this. You know, given both my childhood and how the Weasleys were isolated from other houses. I know we said leave the past behind, but… that might not be so easy for me just yet with certain aspects of my life.”

Her heart fell at his words. His whole life before now, almost entirely manipulated in service of the goal that he accomplished last May. Only ever having the chance to start enjoying _any_ of the simple pleasures of life after he came to Hogwarts. And even then, his years were blackened by trials and torments that no person should ever have to suffer.

Suddenly, a mischievous idea sparked to life in her mind. One of those simple pleasures he had been able to enjoy was having a snowball fight with Ron and the twins in fourth year. She had only ever participated in battles with her parents, but the last one would have been some time before she started at Hogwarts. Maybe she could do this to break out of her activity bubble and give him another happy memory. Besides, after such a serious talk as they had at the church, didn’t they both deserve some time to cut loose and have fun?

Trying to go slowly so that Harry wouldn’t hear her, she scooped a little bit of snow into her gloved hand and packed it into a ball. She placed it on the ground before making a second one. After picking up the one on the ground, she held the snowballs behind her back. Then, she silently counted backwards from three. After hitting the number one, she couldn’t help the evil grin that came to her for an instant before she threw the snowball in her right hand as hard as she could at Harry’s back.

It easily connected, causing the top half of Harry’s body to lurch forward a bit. She immediately put her right hand behind her back and schooled her expression, appearing from the front to be just an innocent girl while readying the other snowball in her right hand behind her.

He stood still for a couple of seconds. Then, reaching around to his back, he felt the snow where she had hit him and brushed it off. When he turned around, the mixture of astonishment and suspicion on his face told her that he couldn’t believe what just happened.

His incredulous tone when he spoke confirmed that. “Did you _actually_ just hit me with a snowball?”

Looking at him with much-too-innocent eyes and a smile, she said as sweetly as she could, “Who, me? How could I do such a thing? I’m just a little bookworm, remember?”

A huge smirk slowly grew on his face, as he said in a low voice, “You just hit me with a snowball.”

As quickly as she could, she threw the other one she held at him, striking him in the middle of his chest. She teasingly yelled, as she began running further into the lawn to put space between them, “And there’s more where that came from, Potter!”

He jokingly replied, while beginning to scoop snow into his own gloved hands, “Oh, I’ll make you pay for that, Granger!”

And with that, the battle had begun. For hours, the two remained outside in their snowball fight, laughing as though they had not a care in the world while trying to pelt each other with snowballs. It ended up encompassing the entire property, as Hermione at one point ran to the back lawn, where they held things for a while before eventually making their way back to the front. The two were so carefree that they never realized they had an audience while battling on the front lawn.

-O-

Jack and Miranda watched from the window of the living room. They had shifted to sit at the top of the sofa for a better view of the merriment. They were both mesmerized by the childlike joy that Harry and Hermione were both showing. A joy that had previously been robbed from both of them with all of the trials they had to face.

“Just look at her,” Miranda quietly said, as she continued to gaze out the window. “Can you recall the last time that she was this happy?”

“I’m honestly not sure if she’s _ever_ been this happy,” Jack replied just as softly. “Not even when the three of us reunited in Australia after she undid those spells.”

She nodded and then gave a quick chuckle. “And we know that Harry never was before yesterday, going by what he said after breakfast.”

He nodded but also couldn’t help the somewhat depressed sigh that left his lips.

That caused her to look over to him and ask with a bit of concern, “What’s wrong, dear?”

Without removing his stare from the window, he replied, “Just… looking at those two, it’s really hitting me that it won’t be long until she leaves us. I know this is her final year at that school, but after reconnecting in the summer, I thought we might still get a bit more time together while she figured out her affairs after graduating. But… we both know that she’ll go wherever Harry goes. She even said as much this morning when she told him, right in front of us, that she would have no problem giving up her family again. And I could never begrudge her that, because they care deeply for one another. And I’m glad that she has someone that can make her so happy. I guess… I wish it didn’t feel like our time with our little girl was coming to an end so quickly.”

Miranda remained silent for a few seconds, just sadly looking at her husband. Then, she shifted to sit right next to him, causing him to turn his head towards her. She placed her left hand on top of his right before gently speaking to him.

“It’s one thing to be someone’s family. It’s another to be someone’s heart and soul. You should know that better than anyone. Except for my mother until she died, no one in my family supported me being with you. And I still chose you.”

His lips curled upward slightly before he responded. “And I’ll always be grateful, for many reasons, that you were willing to make that choice.”

He nudged his head towards the window for a second, where they could still hear the teens as they continued their battle. “And considering one of those reasons is out there playing right now, that’s also why I could never stand in her way if she made the same choice.”

Miranda curled her hand around his, to which he shifted his hand’s position so that he could hold hers. Then, she said, “Yes, she’ll eventually be out of the house completely. But something tells me that she won’t be very far out of our lives even once she leaves here.”

A tiny smirk came to her face as she continued, “Harry would never want her to lose touch with us. He really places a great deal of importance in holding onto family that loves you, given that he never really had that growing up from what Hermione told us of his parents dying and his relatives despising him.”

Jack couldn’t help but nod. “No doubt about that. He knowingly risked forever having our wrath for leaving Hermione in Australia, all because he wanted her to spend time alone with us after everything the two of them endured. And even though we both believed he wouldn’t have been in the way if he had stayed during the summer, a large part of me can’t help but be thankful to him for being willing to make such a sacrifice because we were able to spend real quality time together as a family for the first time in years. All because he cared enough about Hermione that he wanted her to keep her family.”

Returning his gaze to the outside, he was silent for a few seconds. Then, he whispered, “I’m glad they’ve both found that one person that makes them happy and for which they would do anything.”

She squeezed his hand a bit more and turned back to the window. And for a while, the two of them continued their silent vigil, happy in the knowledge that their daughter had found her own heart and soul.

But then, an idea suddenly hit Miranda, and she gave a pensive hum to herself.

Jack looked over to her in confusion and asked, “Something wrong, honey?”

She turned to face him, knowing that her idea was a little crazy but hoping that she could get her husband to at least consider it, for all of their sakes…

-O-

Eventually, the snowball fight finally came to an end when Harry got an idea. Hermione had run to the side of the lawn that was visible from the living room window. Her back was to him as she leaned down to get more snow. Instead of readying the snowball he had, he dropped it and made a beeline for her. When she turned around to throw, she only had just enough time to look at him in surprise before he crashed into her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. The impact was hard enough that it lifted her into the air a little bit, and she put her arms around his middle to steady herself. It also caused Harry to spin in a circle before he fell to the ground on his back, with Hermione lying on top of him.

When she came to her senses and lifted her head to lock eyes with him, neither of them could last more than a second before they both burst out laughing, just as loudly as they had when they finished decorating each other with the tinsel. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest as she continued laughing, her gut hurting from the exertion. His own laughter sounded as though he was having the same issue.

It took a few minutes for their laughter to finally subside. When they had calmed down, Hermione lifted her head to stare down into Harry’s eyes. His expression of tenderness was more than she could resist, and she leaned down to lovingly kiss him. The kiss lasted for about ten seconds before she slowly pulled her head away.

With an embarrassed smile, he said, “Do you think we’ll get in trouble for that, given that we’re in the middle of the lawn?”

Without missing a beat, she replied, “I’m willing to risk it and take it all if we do.”

Her remark caused him to quickly turn somber. After about five seconds, he said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how deeply you feel for me.”

Rather than responding, she slowly leaned down again and gave him another kiss for a couple of seconds. When she pulled away, she whispered, “Then I’ll just have to keep doing that whenever you worry, won’t I?”

Once again, she left him at a loss for words. They stared at each other for about five more seconds before she slowly shifted off of him. When she stood up, she held a hand out for him, which he grabbed to pull himself up.

After dropping their hands, Hermione gave Harry a once-over and looked at the remnants of snow sticking to his clothes. He became confused when she held her arms away and started shaking her hands to get the snow off of them. But then, his eyes widened in surprise when, without a word, she began gently brushing snow off of him. She gradually circled around, removing as much snow from him as she could. And after a minute or so, when she returned to standing in front of him, she placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him. With a timid smile, she slowly slid her hands down his chest and stomach before pulling them away. He blushed, eyes glancing away, but he was wearing his own shy smile.

When he turned his gaze back to her, he began reaching out to her arms, seemingly going to do for her what she did for him. Before he touched her, however, he suddenly halted, his face paling in fright. While she was confused for an instant, she quickly figured out what the issue could be.

He was afraid that he would be doing something inappropriate. That she would react badly if he so much as accidentally touched a finger near her more private bits. The fact that he was still trying to be so considerate about what she may want warmed her heart. However, she needed to show him that his worries were unnecessary.

Before he could pull back, she grabbed his wrists, surprising and confusing him. Then, his confusion deepened when she slowly pulled his hands toward her and placed them on her shoulders, holding her hands over his for a few seconds. Once she let go of him and dropped her arms, she gave him a tender smile and simply nodded at him.

He instantly became shocked at her easy acceptance. Still, knowing that she would never lie to him, he very slowly began brushing her as she had done for him. Even with her assent, he still took great care in making sure he didn’t stray too near her breasts or between her legs. When he had moved around to her back and couldn’t see her face, she had to smile at how adorable he seemed while showing such carefulness. She sobered up again after a few seconds, however, because she then thought about how correct he was in thinking that his first kiss with Ginny _was_ so different to all of his other interactions with girls. She mentally shook her head to get rid of that thought, remembering her own words about not wanting to dwell on the Weasleys any longer.

After another minute, Harry had circled back around to the front and gave her arms a final dusting. When he finished, he simply dropped his arms and looked at her with a light blush. She just smiled at him, moved to stand at his right side, and linked their hands together. Then, she gestured towards the front door with her head, silently telling him that they should go inside. He smiled back and just nodded, and the two walked to the front door as leisurely as they could.

Miranda was leaving the living room just as Hermione walked into the house, pulling Harry along behind her. When he shut the door, Miranda said, “Alright, we heard you two playing out there for a while, so before you do anything else, take off your shoes here and then go upstairs to change out of your wet clothes. Then, leave the wet ones on top of the washing machine, and I’ll get them cleaned and dried.”

Rolling her eyes but smirking good-naturedly, Hermione replied, “Mum, you know we could just do magic, right?”

Her mum’s answer was, “Of course, I do. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy doing something for you while you’re here. Now, once you two do that, then we can all talk about dinner, since it’s almost four o’clock and I’m sure you two haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

Hermione just looked at Harry and shook her head in amusement, to which he grinned in response.

-O-

Late in the evening, the group had been gathered in the living room for a couple of hours. Jack and Miranda were sitting on the right side of the sofa and watching the television, with Miranda leaning her head onto Jack’s left shoulder. Harry and Hermione were settled on the opposite end of the sofa, reading Hermione’s history book together again as she snuggled into his right side.

Hermione giggled in her mind at how the two of them ended up here. Harry had initially taken his place in the armchair like he always did when the four of them all sat in the living room. But when she had locked eyes with him as he was getting ready to settle, she anxiously bit her lip before then patting her left hand beside her on the sofa. Though she saw his nervousness and how his eyes glanced over at her parents for a second, he stood up from the chair and slowly sat down beside her. Too happy to care that her parents might tease them, she had gleefully huddled into him and then took hold of his right hand. When she took a quick glimpse at her mum and dad, she saw that they were wearing small smirks, but they remained silent beyond that and kept their attention on the television.

A few minutes later, however, Harry surprised her when he timidly spoke to her and asked if they could possibly continue where they left off together in her ancient history book, even if it might be redundant on his part since he’d read ahead when he was alone. She simply beamed at him before moving to grab the book off the coffee table. Then, she resumed her cuddling, laid the book in their laps, and opened it. And just like the first morning that they were here, they never said a word and just enjoyed the tranquility of the activity.

They both looked up when they heard the television go silent. Turning their heads to the right, they saw Jack and Miranda standing up.

“Well kids,” Miranda started, “it’s about nine-thirty. So, the two of us are going to turn in for the night.”

Jack added, “But before we do, we did have a question. When would the two of you want to have Christmas dinner?” He then looked directly at Harry. “While we’ve typically done it on the actual day in the past, we weren’t sure whether you would be fine with that or if you would prefer to do it on Christmas Eve, Harry.”

Harry glanced at Hermione before looking back at the parents. Then, with some hesitance, he said, “Christmas Day sounds just fine. Especially because… well, there was somewhere that I actually wanted to go tomorrow night. Somewhere I think that I _need_ to go.”

Hermione’s eyes widened and brow furrowed at the same time. She was going to wait until she and Harry were alone to bring up somewhere that she’d realized, after returning home, she wanted the both of them to go tomorrow. Was he actually already thinking of the same thing?

The parents were a bit quizzical of the cryptic response, and could see that Hermione was feeling the same, but they trusted both teenagers to take care of themselves in whatever may happen. Then, Miranda said, “Then it’s a plan. Now, I’m guessing you two have some things to discuss if our daughter’s current expression means anything, so we’ll leave you be.”

As she and her husband began to leave, she stopped first to give Hermione and Harry a hug. Then, she and Jack both said, “Good night, Hermione. Good night, Harry.”

Hermione said, somewhat reluctantly, “Good night.”

Harry added, “Good night, Miranda, Jack.”

The parents nodded and continued their way out of the living room. When they were close to the entrance, Hermione stopped them by calling out, “Mum. Dad.”

Her parents turned around, looking at her with confusion and a bit of concern. Though she could tell that Harry was also looking at her the same way, she kept her vision trained on her parents before speaking again.

“I do appreciate what you’ve been doing over this break with sticking to my long-held request about keeping a certain something just between us. But… you don’t need to hide it anymore. I told Harry, on the first night we were here, about my nickname. And… I miss hearing it when all of us are saying good night to each other.”

She wasn’t surprised to see shock appear on her parents’ faces. No one else, not even any of the extended family, had ever known about her nickname. She had wanted it that way ever since the bullying she suffered in her early years of school for her love of books. Her parents had asked her, once they had gotten the bullying quashed, if she wanted them to stop using that nickname. She had shaken her head and told them that she still liked it when they did it, but then hesitantly asked if they could just keep it secret between the three of them. Though her parents were saddened that she felt as though she needed to hide it for the future, they had agreed to her request and held to it since then.

Thus, for her to willingly allow someone else to know about it was to basically say that the person would always be close family to her. The fact that this person was her very first friend, and that she’d told him even before actually confessing her real feelings for him, surely couldn’t have been lost on her parents. She hoped that the shock on their faces meant that they were simply stunned with joy.

Finally, her mother was the first one to respond. “Hermione, are you sure it’s alright? You’ve wanted that kept private for so long.”

Hermione gave a short nod before saying, “Yes, I mean it. It’s alright.” Then, locking her eyes onto Harry, she added, “I trust Harry completely.”

Though she’d already told him of her trust in him before, his gaze went soft in the way that she knew meant he could hardly believe that she would ever praise him so highly. She gave him a tender smile and barely nodded, confirming her words to him.

They were interrupted after a few seconds, and looked back at her parents, when Jack said, “You know, Harry, you really are in a special place for Hermione to trust you with her nickname.”

Harry’s somewhat timid response was, “I’m glad to somehow be lucky enough just to have someone amazing like Hermione in my life at all.”

Hermione lovingly laid her head on his shoulder in response, not seeing the light blush that rose to his face.

She quickly lifted it back up, though, when Miranda spoke. “Well, in that case then…”

She paused and looked to Jack, and they flashed a quick smile to each other. Then, they turned back to the teenagers and simultaneously said to Hermione, “Good night, Little Worm. We love you.”

Hermione gave a small grin as she quietly replied, “I love you too, Mum and Dad.”

And with that, her parents walked out of the living room, leaving her and Harry alone.

The two of them just stared at each other for about ten seconds. Then, Hermione broke the silence, placing her book back on the table as she did so. “I know we have something we need to discuss, but how about we save it for first thing in the morning? We’ve already had some pretty big talks as it is today, haven’t we?”

He let out a small chuckle and replied, “You’re not wrong. So yeah, first thing tomorrow, then.”

Without another word, she took hold of his right hand and stood up, causing him to rise with her. When she nudged her head towards the ceiling, he nodded at her unspoken question, and the two slowly made their way up to their rooms.

They stopped at the junction as was typical. Having seen that the door to her parents’ room was closed, Hermione felt more at ease that what she was about to say wouldn’t be overheard. “So, I know my parents only said this as a means of teasing me, but…”

She paused and bit her lip, still somewhat nervous as to how he might take this. Seeing her anxiousness, Harry softly said, “Hey. Whatever it is, I’ll listen.”

The flutter of her heart washed away some of her nerves, so she continued. “What they said about moving you into my room. If, if you _would_ want to move your things into my room, and sleep next to me at night… you’re welcome to do so anytime.”

Harry’s mouth dropped open a bit, and he whispered, “You mean that?”

She simply nodded in response.

He was stunned for a few seconds, as though he was staring off into space. Then, he glanced down the hall at the closed door. Looking back to her, he said, “I’m… not sure I’m ready for something like that just yet. I know what your dad said about me not having to worry about them, but… I don’t want to give them reason to think we might be moving too fast. As dumb as that probably sounds.”

She gently took hold of his hands and replied, “No, it’s not. You’re not ready, so I won’t force the issue. Just know that the offer will remain open if you change your mind.”

His affectionate expression said all that she needed to know, but he spoke up as well. “You really are amazing, you know that? You’ve wanted to help me with issues that I thought I could never talk about because I was afraid of burdening you. You knew when to just let go and have a moment of fun so that I don’t weigh myself down with my thoughts. You’re understanding enough that you have no qualms about waiting for me on certain steps until I’m ready to take them. And you’re trusting enough that, even before we officially became a couple, you let me in on something so secret that apparently only your parents knew about it. Just… thank you, Hermione. For being you.”

And there it was, the warmth she always felt at his high praise. Without hesitation, she let go of his hands but then stepped up to him, leaving no space between their bodies. Then, she leaned in and gave him a long and loving kiss, to which he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her even closer into his chest as they did so.

When the kiss ended, knowing that the night could not end in a better way, Hermione put her left hand on Harry’s cheek and quietly said, “Thank you for giving this little bookworm a chance, both as a friend and as something more. Sleep well, Harry.”

Sounding as though he was fighting back a few tears, he chokingly whispered, “You too, Hermione.”

With that, they gradually separated and stepped backwards into their respective rooms, staring at each other the whole time. Once they each crossed their threshold, they slowly shut the doors, bringing the day to its end. Both pondered on what the morning talk may bring but also knew that, after everything they’d already faced throughout the years, the two of them could get through anything together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feels good to have been able to get this one out like I'd hoped last week. Chapter 8 will definitely take a longer wait than a week, though, since I've just barely started it.
> 
> Hopefully, that resolution doesn't come off as too blue-balling (for lack of a better term). The idea of Harry wanting to put the potion hypothesis out there, Hermione being more afraid of it not being true, and Harry not caring that she had an off-year, so to speak, was what I had planned once I started writing what became these last two chapters. Not to mention, I liked the premise of it giving Hermione an idea of a new challenge for her to take in regards to an overall potion detecting spell, of which I honestly couldn't find any already in canon.
> 
> Also, I'm a believer of the headcanon that Hermione invented the Four-Point Spell herself in fourth year, given that Harry was the only person to ever use it along with its incantation being the only one that was in English. It would also go along with Hermione being kinda bad at naming, what with the unfortunate acronym for the name of her house-elf organization.
> 
> For everyone that made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more! Of course, those of you keeping track of the days in-story probably won't be surprised by what event takes place next lol.


	8. Return to the Night

Hermione awakened at close to six o’clock the next morning. Rising up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed to rest her feet on the carpet, she sat there for a minute and reflected on the events of the previous day.

It certainly had been full of revelations. But despite the heaviness of their talks, she couldn’t help smiling when looking at the day as a whole. She and Harry had supported each other on separate issues that weighed heavily on their minds, and made an agreement to look forward to what she hoped would be a wonderful future. Not to mention, the snowball fight that she started had allowed them to let go of all their worries and simply act like the teenagers that they never really got to be.

But then, she became serious upon remembering what could take place this day. Yesterday, they’d gotten the serious talks done first and then had a moment of fun afterward. Tonight, though… well, assuming Harry either had the same idea she did or at least agreed to go to where she wanted, hopefully things wouldn’t get so heavy that he would be weighed down by memories again.

Hermione shook her head, took a deep breath, and stood to gather her clothes for the day. First things first, there was a discussion for her and Harry to have this morning. Worry about that before jumping too far ahead of things.

And it looks like that talk would come more quickly than she had expected.

As Hermione opened her door and stepped into the hall, Harry came out of the bathroom, apparently having already finished his morning shower routine. They both started a bit as their gazes locked. Of course, the sense of déjà vu with how similar this was to two mornings ago made a smile come to her face. She wondered if he thought the same thing when he responded with a small grin of his own.

The words he spoke confirmed her question. “This is a bit familiar.”

With her smile changing to a smirk, she replied, “Just a little bit.” Then, something hit her as to why he might have already been awake, causing her to sober up before her next words. “Is everything alright? Did you sleep well?”

His expression became tender at her concern, and his answer showed that he knew exactly what she had thought about. “I’m alright, Hermione. I haven’t had any more nightmares since the day that I was here alone. I just woke up maybe thirty minutes ago and, remembering what we agreed to do this morning, didn’t really want to try and go back to sleep.”

“OK then,” she quietly said. “I’m sorry if I worry too much. I just want – “

“You want to make sure I can get as much peace as possible while I’m here,” he gently interjected. “I know, Hermione. And you don’t ever have to be sorry about your concern. It’s one of the things I appreciate about you, and you being worried is just one way that shows me how much you care.”

The warmth that once again filled her at his words had her wondering how she had ever survived through life before without it. She didn’t get a chance to respond to him, however, as he quickly became solemn and continued.

“So, since you’re up, do you want to have that discussion after you get through in the bathroom?”

Well, she did say first thing in the morning. So, she gave him a nod and said, “Sure, that works.”

He silently nodded in return. As he moved to return to his room, however, she stopped him when he was beside her by telling him something more. “You can wait in my room, if you want.”

His eyes widened slightly in surprise before he asked, “Are you sure?”

“Completely, Harry. Like I’ve said before… I trust you.”

His gaze took on that soft look again. Then, he whispered, “Well… OK then. I’ll be waiting for you in there.”

And with that, she watched him slowly step inside her room and then gingerly sit on the edge of her bed, facing towards the entrance. She gave him a smile before finally making her way to the bathroom.

Forty minutes later, she stepped out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed from her shower but also nervous from what she knew was next. When she reached her room, she found that he hadn’t shifted from where he first sat but did lean back to actually lie with his back flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She knocked on the door lightly to announce her presence, causing him to sit up straight at the disturbance. When their eyes locked, she shut the door to give them privacy before then walking over and sitting next to him on his right side.

They continued to stare at each other for a few seconds before Harry, without shifting his gaze at all, reached over and took her left hand in his right and intertwined their fingers.

Then, he said, “I guess I’ll start, since I know you’ve got to be curious as to what I meant last night in my words to your parents.” He took a deep breath to prepare himself and then continued.

“Yesterday, we agreed to leave the past behind and look forward to the future. And it hit me, after we returned here, that there’s something related to my past that I didn’t do a well-enough job facing when I first had the chance. Somewhere that I’ve continued to avoid long after Riddle’s death. And I need to face this to try and properly reach for the future with you.”

He took another deep breath, apparently needing to steel himself even more before finally whispering out what had been haunting him.

“Hermione… I want to go to Godric’s Hollow tonight. I need to talk to my parents. And… I hope that you’ll come with me. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get through it without you.”

While she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, she couldn’t help the small smile that grew on her face. Before he could react, she placed her right hand on top of their already-joined ones.

Then, she affectionately said, “Would you believe me if I told you that I had wanted to talk to you myself about going there tonight?”

He blinked a couple of times in surprise before saying, “R-really?”

She nodded before becoming a bit more sheepish and hesitantly responding, “Well, we were there on Christmas Eve last year, in the middle of the war and thinking that so much was hopeless. I thought… I thought it would be good if we went again, just to tell them that you made it through everything. That all their efforts for you paid off. So, to answer your request… yes, I’d love to go with you tonight.”

He became stunned at her response, and his silence for a few seconds caused her to let out a tiny giggle. That seemed to break him out of his stupor.

She said, with a bit of playfulness, “You didn’t think I would actually say no, did you?”

His timid response was, “Well, I know my remarks last night were pretty vague, and you don’t like being left in the dark. And I only realized this morning, and started worrying, that…”

His voice became so quiet that she would have missed his next statement if they weren’t sitting right next to each other. “That maybe you would think this was another Australia situation.”

She sadly looked at him before placing her right hand on his cheek. Then, she whispered, “I know you would never leave without telling me first, Harry, and giving me a chance to persuade you otherwise.”

A somewhat dejected smile rose to his face before he said, “Thank you for having so much faith in me.”

Wanting to wash away his sadness, she leaned in and gave him a soft, one-second kiss. When she pulled back, she replied, “I could say the same to you.”

His expression became a mixture of astonishment and affection before he gave an actual smile. Yes, seeing any happiness in his expression always made the times that she had to reassure him worth it, no matter how often she had to do so.

Wanting to get back on track, she pulled her right hand off of his face before asking, “So… what time should we leave?”

He understood what she was doing and became serious again. “What do you say after six o’clock tonight? It’ll be dark by then, which is obviously good when it comes to Apparating there without being seen, and… I don’t know, it just feels right to go then, too. Like it would still be a private talk even though it’s a public graveyard. I don’t, however, plan for this to be an overnight kind of thing. I wouldn’t want to be gone so long as to make your parents uneasy.”

She nodded and said, “OK then, it’s a plan. Six o’clock tonight.”

He just silently nodded and then slowly slipped his hand out of hers. He looked down at the floor and took a deep but slightly shaky breath. She could tell that, even though they’d simply just agreed to go there, his nerves were already hitting him that he was going to do something which he’d been avoiding since the war’s end.

She gently placed her left hand on his lower back, hoping her touch would give him any modicum of comfort. He glanced at her and, realizing what her action meant, gave her a small smile for an instant and then nodded. Though he looked back down at the floor, it seems that she helped to stave off his nerves for the time being since he didn’t appear to be as anxious. And for a few minutes, the two of them just sat there, no words needed.

Eventually, Hermione looked up at her clock to check the time. Turning back to him to find him gazing at her in a bit of confusion, she said, “So, it’s seven o’clock already. Do you want to head downstairs?”

The confusion in his eyes cleared up, and with a half-smile, he said, “Yeah, let’s go.”

She rubbed his back for a second before standing from the bed. He rose with her an instant later, and the two quietly made their way to the living room.

Hermione’s parents were in their usual places on the sofa and looked to the two teenagers when she and Harry entered the room.

“Good morning, kids,” Jack and Miranda said.

Hermione replied, “Good morning, Mum and Dad.”

Harry said at the same time as Hermione, “Good morning, Jack and Miranda.”

The parents stood up together, as Jack responded, “Well, we’ll go ahead and get breakfast ready.” He turned to Miranda and then said, with an exaggerated sense of exhaustion, “And yes, Miranda. Now that they’re both up, you can put the music on like we agreed.”

Miranda smirked at her husband and retorted, “Don’t act like you don’t enjoy it, too.”

He snapped his fingers once and teasingly said, “Damn, saw right through me.” He picked up a portable stereo that was sitting on the coffee table and then turned to Harry and Hermione. “Don’t be surprised, Harry, if you hear Christmas music coming from the kitchen while we prepare the food.”

Hermione shook her head with a smile and then turned to Harry and clarified what her parents were talking about, in order to save him from any confusion. “On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Mum likes to have Christmas music playing wherever she’s doing anything. While it will get turned off when we watch the television, we also only watch Christmas-related material on these two days, as well. A bit silly maybe, if you think about it.”

A big grin came to Harry’s face as he gave an amused snort. He said, “I don’t know, that sounds like a fun tradition to me.”

Miranda interjected, “Thank you, Harry.” Then, turning to her family, she continued with an embellished haughtiness. “See? At least _someone_ in this house can appreciate the finer things in life.”

Jack and Hermione, at the same time, rolled their eyes and smirked at Miranda’s comment.

Harry couldn’t help how his grin changed into a warm smile at the family play. But then, it hit him again about how the last of his family had been killed while he was battling at Hogwarts. While he was able to school his expression enough that his feelings didn’t show, he once again felt that familiar pain at the knowledge that he would be well and truly alone if Hermione hadn’t been so patient with him. He was somewhat thankful that she wasn’t looking at him right now, since she would probably still see through him and realize that something was wrong.

It was then that Jack and Miranda decided to actually go do their task. This time, though, Harry asked them if it was alright that he waited in the kitchen with them as they prepared the food, and that he wouldn’t mind just listening to some Christmas music for a little bit. He looked at Hermione with the question that she would come with him, and she tenderly smiled and nodded at him in answer. Jack and Miranda, meanwhile, replied that of course he could if he wanted to.

Thus, the time before and during breakfast was spent with nary a word. Once the portable stereo had been plugged in, Miranda quickly tuned the radio to a station that was playing nothing but Christmas music until the holiday was over. From her chair at the table, Hermione watched her mother bop in place to the music while making their meal. And though Hermione couldn’t see her father’s expression, she knew he would be smiling the entire time, as he was like to do once the music started in the house. When she turned to look at Harry sitting beside her, he was simply watching her parents with a happy expression, as though he was glad to get to witness such a scene from a family. And all four of them, once the food was ready, silently ate breakfast with smiles on their faces.

Once they had finished and put their plates away, however, Miranda turned the music volume down to a minimum. Then, she asked Harry and Hermione, “So, was everything alright with you two last night? If I’m prying, just say so, and I’ll ask nothing more.”

Hermione wasn’t sure if Harry was ready to tell her parents of their plan, though they obviously needed to be made aware at some point so that they wouldn’t worry tonight. Her thoughts were quickly broken, though, when Harry spoke up.

“Actually, I would like to talk with the two of you, since it will relate to my words from last night.”

While the looks of concern were plainly evident on their faces, Jack and Miranda silently sat back down.

Underneath the table, Hermione couldn’t help reaching over and curling her left hand over his right one. Though he didn’t glance at her, she saw the corner of his mouth barely twitch upward for an instant before he shifted his hand to hold hers. The quick squeeze he gave to her hand told her that he was grateful for her action.

Then, as he stared at her parents, Harry began to speak. “First, I apologize to both of you for my vague comments last night. I realize now that they could have made you worry about what I may have been referring to.”

Miranda quietly said, “There’s no need for that, Harry. The two of us always believed that it was something else you needed to talk about with Hermione first.”

Harry’s reply came with a sad smile. “Still, I could have gone about my words in a better manner.” Then, his expression turned serious again. “But you’re right about me needing to talk with Hermione, which is what we did this morning before coming downstairs. And now that we have a plan of sorts, I want the both of you to be aware of it.”

He took a deep breath before continuing. “Hermione mentioned to me last week that you knew about my parents dying when I was an infant.”

He could see sadness creep into Jack and Miranda’s expressions, but they just silently nodded.

“Well, something you may not know, at least from what I remember of all the details that Hermione told you regarding last year after she fixed your memories, is that… the village of Godric’s Hollow, where we went last Christmas. That’s where my parents lived until their deaths.”

Hermione had actually kept secret all the details relating to Harry’s parents when she was telling about going to Godric’s Hollow during the war. She’d only made mention that they needed to go to the village to see if there were any clues about where to find Gryffindor’s sword and then went into the whole incident with Nagini. It had only been after Harry left Australia that she told her mum and dad that Harry’s parents had been killed when he was just an infant. She had done so in her desperation to convince them to not hate him for leaving, since she’d always previously believed that it wasn’t really her place to talk about something so personal for Harry. Thus, she knew that her parents would probably be shocked with this new information.

Meanwhile, Jack and Miranda both indeed went wide-eyed, with Miranda also softly gasping, at this information as well as the further implications about what Harry’s next words would be. They didn’t have any time to respond, though, as the young man kept talking.

“That’s where my parents are buried now, in the graveyard near the church. And that’s where I wanted to go tonight, with Hermione. Because I need to actually talk to them, something I couldn’t do last year due to how torn up I was about being there for the first time. Because I’ll never be able to let go of that part of my past otherwise.”

Hermione couldn’t resist scooting her chair closer to him in order to lay her head on his shoulder. She couldn’t see him keep his eyes trained on her parents, but she did feel another squeeze of his hand.

Jack and Miranda were dumbfounded for a few seconds at the reminder of all that this young man had to suffer in a mere eighteen years. Even after so much time had passed since he lost them, he seemed to still carry survivor’s guilt over his parents’ sacrifice for him.

Miranda was the first to respond. Fighting back the tears in her eyes, she managed to say, “I’m sure they’ll absolutely love that you’re thinking of them and want to talk to them, Harry.”

Jack put a comforting arm around his wife and pulled her into his side, before looking back at Harry. “I completely agree. We may not know much of anything about your parents, but we _are_ parents ourselves, and there’s nothing better on the holidays than simply being with our loved ones. And I know that they would have the largest smiles on their faces for you in the knowledge that you want to be with them tonight in whatever way you’re able.”

Hermione lifted her head from Harry’s shoulder to gauge his reaction to her parents’ words. And once again, it seems that they’d left him stunned and speechless with their consideration for him. When he was finally able to speak, it was just a quiet, “Thank you both.”

Deciding to take over so that Harry could regain his bearings, Hermione turned to her parents and said, “Mum, Dad. We won’t be leaving until at least six o’clock tonight, so that it will be dark outside. For one, while we’ll use Harry’s Invisibility Cloak when we actually Apparate there, the cover of darkness will allow us to be unseen when we take it off. And two… well, this will sound silly, but it just feels right to wait until then. And we won’t be gone all night, either. If we somehow aren’t back before the next morning, that means something went wrong.”

Having regained a bit of her composure, Miranda replied, “Alright then, thank you both for letting us know beforehand where you’ll be.”

Jack then jumped in, “So, if you’re waiting until tonight to go, do you have any plans for the rest of the day? I know that Miranda and I are working on some last-minute things for the church’s annual donation drive to turn in today. So, we’ll be busy in here for most of the day.”

Hermione exclaimed, “Oh, that’s right! The food and clothing drive! I’d forgotten all about it given everything over the last two years. I wonder if the people at the church will say anything to you two, since you obviously weren’t around last year.”

Harry hesitantly interjected, “Um, may I ask what you’re talking about?”

Turning to him, Hermione replied, “Oh Harry, I’m sorry, I should have explained. Basically, the church that I took you to holds a donation drive every year around Christmas. Regardless of whether or not they’re even a member of the church, people can bring in clothes and non-perishable food that will go to a shelter to be distributed to those that may not be able to afford much. Mum and Dad always bring in a large load of both. Many of the winter clothes are actually things that Dad knits. My pink knit hat is his handiwork, if you can believe it, but I digress.

“Meanwhile, Mum also typically bakes some large batches of cookies. The drive workers always put at least half aside to save for the shelter where all the donations go, so that they can be given away as a Christmas treat to anyone picking supplies up at the shelter. For the rest, donators always get at least one cookie for giving something to the drive. And if any happen to be left over, Mum has told the church staff that they can keep and enjoy them.”

He looked back at the parents, asking with wonder, “You two really do that? And you know how to knit, Jack?”

The older man nodded. “Sure do, to both questions. There’s a lot of people that aren’t as fortunate as us, so we like to help out and bring them a little holiday joy however we can. And as far as the knitting, everyone in my family was taught growing up. Let’s just say that it was pretty necessary for us to know how to repair older clothes rather than simply going out to get new ones.”

Nudging his head towards Hermione, he continued, “Of course, being in a much better position by the time Hermione was born, I never tried to force it on her. It wasn’t until she came home after your fourth year at Hogwarts that she came to me and asked to start learning, at least for what little time we were able to spend that summer.”

Harry turned to Hermione with a small grin and said with a bit of cheek, “I guess that finally explains where your knitting knowledge came from, since you were knitting clothes for the house-elves.”

Her only response was to stick her tongue out at him, to which he just grinned even more.

As he turned back to the parents again, his expression became more awed before he continued speaking. “But really, you two, that sounds like something amazing to do. And…”

Glancing back at Hermione, he quietly and sheepishly said, “I don’t know, I had originally thought that we could start our studies today on those detection spells and practicing wandless magic. But… I kind of want to help out if possible, since it would involve giving back to people. I mean, while I don’t know anything about knitting, I could at least help out with the baking. Would that be alright? If you don’t want to – “

She stopped him from rambling any more with a finger on his lips. She held it there for a couple more seconds before removing it and then replied, “You know what? Schoolwork can wait until after Christmas Day, Harry. And yes, we can both help out my parents today.”

He gave a loving smile at her easy agreement. The tender moment was interrupted, however, when Jack jokingly said, “See now, Harry, I had been liking you all throughout this break, and now you’ve gone and corrupted our daughter. Putting off schoolwork for something else? What’s the world come to?”

Hermione turned to her father and said, in an imitation of her mother’s overdone haughtiness, “I’m quite capable of knowing the right time to put down my books, thank you.”

Harry, Jack, and Miranda immediately all replied at once, “Since when?” They looked at each other with big smiles after realizing what they just did, before bursting out with laughs.

Hermione couldn’t pout for even a tiny bit that they’d put one over on her. It was such a wonderful scene, watching Harry laughing along with her parents, that she couldn’t help her own large smile that grew on her face.

After about ten more seconds, the laughter started to subside, and Harry looked to find her smiling tenderly at him. This, however, caused him to go sheepish before he then said, “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I know that you’re so much more than just a big brain. That snowball fight we had wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Though of course, I still very much appreciate everything about said brain.”

Squeezing the hand that she was still gripping, she interjected, “Harry, I don’t mind it coming from you. I know that, like my parents, you were simply teasing with affection. I know that you weren’t actually mocking me, unlike some other people. So, don’t fret about it. It’s OK.”

The subtle nod to both her childhood bullying as well as Ron made Harry sober up a little bit. But he simply said, “OK, I’ll try. And thank you for always being so understanding.”

She once again, in her mind, cursed everyone that had ever derided his self-worth. But she didn’t say anything out loud, not wanting him to dwell on a minor thing that wasn’t worth the time for dwelling.

They both looked back to her parents when Miranda quietly said, “But are you two sure? You know you don’t have to feel obligated to help out.”

Harry’s response left a silence so heavy that even a drop of the smallest pin would still have been heard. “I know what it’s like to not only have terrible clothes but also to be starved. So, if my help means I can keep another child from feeling like I did, even if they just simply get an extra cookie as a treat for Christmas, I’ll do it.”

On instinct, Hermione greatly tightened her hold on his hand. She was sure he could feel the slight shake in her hand due to her trying to hold back her emotions. For as much as she did know about his years with the Dursleys, never before had Harry come out and said that he had actually been starved by those despicable excuses of relatives. It was nothing less than a miracle, and a testament to Harry’s iron will to do the right thing, that he never wanted to simply go dark and take vengeance for everything he had suffered.

It was then that she heard a chair scrape on the floor. Looking towards the sound’s direction, she saw her mother instantly rise from the chair and rush over to the other side of the table until she was standing at Harry’s left side. Letting go of Harry’s right hand, Hermione had a fairly good idea of what was going to happen. And it only took a couple more seconds to confirm her thought.

At that moment, though she didn’t pull him out of the chair, Miranda did step up to Harry and pull him into a crushing hug, holding his head underneath her chin while doing so. It was exactly the kind of motherly hug as she’d always given Hermione in moments of comfort throughout her childhood.

Then, Miranda choked out through another round of tears she was holding back, “You wonderful, wonderful boy. Wanting to help others in the same situation as you once suffered. Those horrid relatives of yours are a bunch of fools for not seeing just how amazing you are.”

After a few more seconds, she let him free when she loosened her hold and took two steps back. Jack rose from his seat and moved next to Miranda, placing a hand on her shoulder for comfort since he could see that her emotions were still running quite high.

Though Hermione couldn’t see Harry’s face, she was certain that he was completely shocked. His head was tilted in such a way that she knew he was staring at her parents right now. A small pit grew in her stomach, however, believing that his next words were going to be some kind of self-deprecating remark.

And sure enough, after about five seconds, Harry timidly whispered, “I’m hardly amazing – “

He didn’t get a chance to continue as Hermione had to interrupt, causing him to turn around and face her.

“You _are_ amazing, Harry,” she lovingly said. “You are now, and you always have been. And I’ll tell you that as many times as it takes for you to finally believe it.”

He had that look on his face which told her that he was fighting not to cry. When he closed his eyes and tilted his head downward, taking shaky breaths as he did so, she reached up and began gently rubbing the back of his shoulder. This caused him to open his eyes and flash her an appreciative smile.

When Harry turned around to face her parents, he couldn’t help locking his gaze onto Jack with a bit of hesitance.

Realizing the unspoken fear that was directed at him, the older man quietly said, “You’ll get no arguments from me in the matter. I completely agree with the women.”

Harry blinked his eyes rapidly and looked back and forth a couple of times between Hermione and her parents. Then, he murmured with shyness, “Thank you all. I don’t know what to say beyond that.”

Guiding him to face her again, Hermione put her hand behind his head and pushed his forehead forward until it was touching hers. Then, she whispered, “It’s OK. You don’t have to say anything at all, Harry.”

Jack and Miranda smiled at one another, before she stepped closer into his side and placed her head on his shoulder. He responded by wrapping his arm around her to hold her tightly to him. Then, they silently took in the tender scene in front of them, watching the two teenagers as they stared at each other, not budging an inch. Both parents couldn’t help thinking how their daughter and her best friend more than deserved such happiness together after fighting against the world for so long.

Eventually, they saw Harry just give Hermione a small nod, to which she nodded in response before letting him pull back. Miranda lifted her head off of her husband’s shoulder and, deciding to see if the teenagers still wanted to help the two of them, spoke up and got their attention.

“So, if you both still want to help us, do you want to start soon? Or do you want some time to yourselves first?”

Harry once again turned back to their daughter. Miranda and Jack could see him say something, but it was too quiet to know exactly what. But then, Hermione flashed Harry an affectionate smile and gave another nod. Though they couldn’t see his initial reaction, he twisted around to face them. The mixture of calmness and joy in his eyes gave them relief. Then, he responded with resolution.

“We’ll start now. More time helping means we can have more finished for you and Jack to give away.”

The parents both happily smiled at his response. Then, deciding to get to it, Jack responded, “Alright then. Hermione, I’ll go grab all of the knitting supplies. You and I will be set up at the table. I’ve got some hats and scarves to work on. With your help, maybe we can get them all finished in time to donate.”

Miranda went and put the oven on the right temperature, and then said to Harry, “And you, Harry, can join me over here at the kitchen counter and grab one of the cookie pans that I’ve been using. With two of us, cutting the cookies from the dough should go a bit faster so that we can have more baked.”

The two teenagers just nodded, and soon enough, the group had begun their work.

For most of the day afterward, it was another joyous occasion together like they had with decorating the tree. Miranda turned the volume back up on her stereo, and it was hard for the four not to keep constant smiles on their faces as they went about their tasks with the music in the background. At Miranda’s request, Jack even brought her camera into the kitchen, when he went to get his knitting material, so that any of them could use it to catch moments on which they wanted to look back.

In fact, Hermione ended up making a request for a picture from her mother and Harry, when the two of them had completed their first bunches of cookies. She directed them to stand next to each other and then had them tilt their pans to show off the finished cookies as Hermione took the picture. With those first batches, Harry’s cookies were all shaped like little reindeer, while Miranda’s were in the shape of smiling Santa Claus faces. Those wouldn’t be the only two shapes, though, since Miranda always liked to have a variety of designs to use for different batches as a means of catching every aspect of the holiday.

Harry ended up doing the same to Hermione and Jack when the two of them finished the first hats they had been knitting. Hermione had made a little red hat sized for a younger child, while Jack’s was a larger green one for an adult. The picture Harry snapped was of them standing and holding their respective knit hat up to their chest, with huge smiles on their faces.

Time rapidly passed in the enjoyment. At three o’clock, Jack and Miranda decided to pack up everything they had for the donation drive and take it to the church. Not only would some of the staff have been there to accept things since at least two o’clock so that people could donate early and have the evening with their families, but Miranda also said that there was one more errand that needed finishing before all the large stores closed early. They also thanked Harry and Hermione greatly for helping out and spending the day with them. Though the praise made Harry turn sheepish once again, he simply took it with a smile this time.

And soon enough, the time finally passed six o’clock, with darkness blanketing the outside world except for the occasional street light.

The four were sitting in the living room after dinner. The three Grangers spent some time talking about past donation drives, while Harry just listened in contentment. But then, Hermione grew confused when her parents trailed off suddenly for no reason and were looking past her. Turning around, she saw Harry looking up at the wall with a solemn expression on his face. Following his gaze, she found that he was staring straight at the clock.

The time had come for them to go back to Godric’s Hollow.

Facing him again, she gently placed a hand on his right thigh, breaking him out of his trance. Once their gazes were locked, she quietly asked, “So, do you want to go get ready?”

He took one deep breath before replying, “Yeah, we better.”

And just like yesterday morning, they got dressed in their winter gear before making their way back down to the living room. As they were walking downstairs, Harry took his mokeskin pouch and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak from it to use and cover their Apparition.

Jack and Miranda were already standing as the two of them arrived and took their place in front of the television to prepare to travel to Godric’s Hollow.

Miranda spoke up before the children could do much more. “So, you’ll cover yourselves with that Cloak, count to three, and then we should hear the cracking sound?”

Hermione’s simple reply was, “Yes, that’s right, Mum.”

Taking a deep breath, the older woman added, “How long should we give it for you two to return tonight before beginning to worry?”

Harry responded this time. “How about Hermione and I Apparate straight here into the living room when we return, so you’ll know for certain that we’re back if you’re sitting down here? If you’ve gone to your bedroom, then we’ll come knock and tell you that we’ve arrived. And if we haven’t done that by the time you normally wake up in the morning…”

He had to pause, because he knew his words probably weren’t easing the mother’s worries very much. Thus, he just awkwardly ended with, “Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Jack quietly interceded, “OK, we’ll give it until then.”

Miranda added, “Though I can’t promise not to worry a small bit even before then. Please be safe, you two. And Harry…”

Her direct referral caused Harry to become slightly confused before she finished after a couple of seconds of silence. “I hope that you can find peace when you see your parents this time.”

Not knowing what to really say, his only reply was a quiet, “Thank you.” He then turned to Hermione, took a deep breath, and muttered, “Ready when you are.”

She just silently nodded, so he threw the Cloak over them. After grabbing each other’s hands, Hermione began the countdown. And on the number three, with Hermione’s lead, they disappeared from the Granger residence and landed in the middle of a darkened street. A faint glow of streetlights some ways ahead of them indicated the center of the village.

They had arrived in Godric’s Hollow, at the same place as where they’d arrived last year.

Scanning the area after their eyes were adjusted to the darkness, they didn’t see anyone around that would notice them coming out from underneath the Cloak. After Hermione performed _Homenum Revelio_ just to be sure they were safe, they quickly slipped out, and Harry folded up the Cloak before stuffing it back into his pouch.

Then, he just stood there, nerves starting to overwhelm him. They’d landed in the same place, and the village appeared to be exactly the same as when they’d arrived last year…

He was already way too anxious about simply talking to his mum and dad at their grave. Having to resist the urge to flash back to the last year, worrying that Riddle was on their trail and had Nagini waiting to ambush Harry and Hermione, wasn’t helping matters at all.

He started a bit when he felt Hermione link her left arm into his right one, along with her right hand coming up to rest on his upper arm.

Twisting his head to face her, she whispered with concern, “What is it, Harry? You were just staring off into space. What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and took an unsteady breath. “For one, this feels way too similar to last year. I mean, we may even be wearing the same clothes as last year. I know for certain that you wore that pink hat and those gloves. It’s hard right now resisting the urge to flash back to the point where we were attacked by Nagini and would have been caught by Riddle if you hadn’t been able to hold it together and take us away from here. And it’s making me feel like I’ve just led us into another trap. Second, and maybe more importantly… I’m so nervous about speaking to them, Hermione. Even if they aren’t physically around.”

She squeezed his arm for a second before replying, “First off, if we somehow end up in another fight while we’re here, then we’ll handle it. But you’ve said it yourself. The Death Eaters are all dead now. And my parents are the only ones to even know that we’re coming here tonight.

“Second, try to remember what Mum and Dad said. That your parents would be overjoyed that you came to see them at Christmas. And if that still can’t assuage your nerves, then just remember that I’m right here beside you, every step of the way.”

While the terror didn’t fully leave him, she could see his expression soften just a bit before he whispered, “Thank you.” Turning his head back in the direction of the village itself, he sighed and said, “What do you say we get a move on?”

She merely responded, “OK.” And with that, they began their walk to the church’s graveyard.

They walked fairly slowly, with Hermione believing that Harry was trying to prepare himself in any way he could. They remained silent as they passed the memorial built in honor of the three Potters. Both of them had to stare at it as they walked by, but neither showed any inclination to stop at the moment.

Once they’d passed it, Hermione decided to speak up about something else, hoping that she could distract Harry’s nerves with a question. Of course, there was also a possibility that it could make them worse given that it involved this past summer, but she wouldn’t know without asking.

“Harry,” she quietly said, “may I ask you something about this past summer?”

Though they continued their slow pace, she saw him glance at her for a second before replying, “Yeah, of course, Hermione.”

“Why did you go back to Hogwarts and stay there for the rest of the summer? Even if you thought Grimmauld Place was still unsafe due to not knowing how many people beyond just other Death Eaters that Yaxley may have let in on the secret after I accidentally Apparated him with us, couldn’t you have gotten a flat of your own? I know you could afford it since your vault at Gringotts had more than enough for you to just live off of it for the rest of your life.”

Harry brought them to a halt, causing terror to start growing within her due to thinking she’d gone into territory she shouldn’t have. But then, he silently looked at her for a few seconds before responding.

“You’re right about one of the reasons being that I was still worried who all had access to Grimmauld Place after we let Yaxley within the boundaries of the protections. After everything we went through, it just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. I assumed that they could have told even people that weren’t actual Death Eaters but were sympathetic to their and Riddle’s views, and thus couldn’t take the chance of going anywhere near the house just to be immediately ambushed by any guards and lookouts that might still be in the area.”

He turned his gaze away from her to look straight ahead, giving a sigh before continuing. “But even just with Grimmauld itself… there were too many bad memories of that house. Everyone being there while I was still stuck at the Dursleys, all because of Dumbledore. Sirius being locked up in another makeshift prison, with Dumbledore not allowing him to leave, and even Mrs. Weasley occasionally ordering him around in his own house.”

Harry’s voice started trembling at his next statement. “Me being too stupid to open Sirius’ Christmas gift of the mirror, which makes me wonder now about how often he may have just sat with his mirror, desperately hoping that I would call out his name and he would get to answer. The mirror would have allowed us to freely contact each other for all those months after Christmas. Would have allowed me to realize that the vision of him being held at the Ministry was a trap, just like you warned me.”

He glanced down at the ground and shook his head. Then, he took one deep breath before continuing in a steadier voice. “I could never have dissociated those bad memories from the house, Hermione. So, the last time I ever called Kreacher, after I’d decided that I was just staying at Hogwarts for the summer, I told him that the house was his from now on. I even convinced him to let me set him free, so that he could officially call it his house, by telling him that he could live out the rest of his days as the elf of only his beloved master Regulus if he so chose it.”

Harry let out a soft snort. “You would have probably loved to see the look of happiness on his face when I told him my reasoning. And if I never see the old elf again, at least our last parting was a good one.”

That ending part was _certainly_ not something Hermione had been expecting. Even with the pain she felt about Harry seeing the house as giving him nothing but agony, she also couldn’t help being immensely proud of him for being so kind to Kreacher like that. He never saw the look of surprise on her face, however, and continued with his speech.

“And as far as Hogwarts goes… look, I know I never told you before just how bad things were for me growing up. Never told you that I’d _actually_ been starved at times. But now that you know, maybe that will make what I say next clearer to you. That, even with how much of a deathtrap it was year after year… Hogwarts really was the only home I’d ever known. And after we’d said our goodbyes in Australia, I actually ended up thinking about Hogsmeade first, rather than any place in England. So, when you saw me disappear, Hogsmeade was where I landed. And once I was there, I walked back to the castle, ran across McGonagall, and got her permission to stay for the summer.”

He finally locked his eyes with hers again as he finished with, “And Hogwarts being the only thing that resembled a home for me is why I never looked anywhere else. I was already falling into my rut of not knowing what to do. So, I just went back to the one place that I knew.”

Hermione didn’t know how to respond. What was there to say when the person you loved continued to reveal further and further depths to his anguish? What words could be said to the fact that a school where he’d been in mortal peril every single year was the closest thing to a home in his mind?

Seeing the torment in her expression, he sadly smiled at her before reaching up with his left hand and patting her right one, still sitting on his arm, a couple of times. Then, as he dropped his hand, he murmured, “Come on. What do you say we keep moving to the graveyard?”

Once again marveling at how he was comforting her when she’d been the one to put him on the spot with her question, she simply nodded and said, “OK.”

They remained silent as they continued their journey. Once they had passed through the kissing gate at the graveyard’s entrance, however, Harry picked up the pace just slightly enough to make Hermione curious.

Then, as though he already knew she would have questions, he said, “Before I face them, there’s one other place I want to stop at first.”

She replied, “Whatever you want, Harry.” He gave no further response, and soon enough, he halted them in front of a gravestone.

It was the grave of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore.

As they silently stood there, Hermione read the words written on the stone a few times. _Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also_. And for all of the dead headmaster’s faults, she couldn’t deny the truth to the words whether or not he had been the one to place them on the gravestone.

Her heart completely belonged to Harry. And he was the one thing she treasured more than anything in the world.

Then, Harry finally broke the silence. “I mentioned about talking with Dumbledore in my head while I was unconscious after being hit by Riddle’s Killing Curse in the Forbidden Forest. One of the things he told me was about his sister Ariana. How he resented having to be the caretaker after their mother Kendra died while caring for Ariana. Which was in part why he became so taken with Grindelwald, since he now had a chance to escape what he believed was a cage that was trapping him.

“But after Aberforth confronted him with what he and Grindelwald were scheming, Grindelwald became furious. Furious enough that a three-way duel began. And amidst the chaos, Ariana was hit by a curse, with none of the three ever knowing which of them had fired it.”

Harry then paused and closed his eyes. Hermione was completely taken with the information Harry was giving and thus didn’t want to interrupt him. And after a few seconds, he opened his eyes and gave a sigh before continuing.

“I’m certain that Dumbledore always regretted it. If you remember what I said to Aberforth when we went back to Hogwarts, the potion he had to drink so that we could get the fake locket caused him, in my belief, to relive that duel. And what he most wanted was to keep his family from being harmed.

“And… as much as I dislike the man now for keeping me so completely in the dark in regards to his plans, I also can’t help but pity him for only realizing what was important when it was too late. And I’m sure that’s why this grave was marked with that phrase, as a reminder of what truly mattered.”

Hermione turned her gaze back to the grave. Yes, what happened to the Dumbledore family was a tragedy. A mother dying while simply trying to care for her daughter. A sister being killed in the crossfire of a battle. And two brothers becoming estranged over their differences after their sister’s death. All because of a single, selfish choice.

But still…

After everything Harry had told her about what he learned from Snape’s memories and about what Dumbledore’s plans really were for all those years, she couldn’t feel pity. She felt a deep sadness for what happened to the rest of the family, who were completely innocent in the matter, but not for the man himself.

No, there was only a single feeling she had for Albus Dumbledore now. And it was here that she finally spoke. “Then you’re a much better person than I am, Harry.”

In her peripheral vision, she could see Harry glance at her with a bit of confusion. Then, he asked, “What do you mean?”

She unlinked her arm so that she could turn her body to fully face him, which caused him to do the same. Staring at him with all the seriousness in the world, she answered in a low voice, “Because I feel nothing but hatred for the man.”

Harry’s eyebrows rose in surprise at the blunt answer. After two seconds, he quietly said, “I know you said that you hoped he and Snape were in hell, Hermione, but couldn’t full-on hatred be a bit much? And you know I’m not saying that lightly given how I even just said that I still dislike Dumbledore for his actions and secrets.”

She snorted once before replying, with more warmth in her tone, “And the fact that _you_ are the one saying that, Harry, just proves my point about you being a better person.”

She turned serious again. “He placed you with relatives that he was certain would abuse you. He kept you ignorant for so long of the reason why Riddle specifically wanted to kill you. He only told you about that reason after your godfather had just died and you were in a state of grieving. He put an entire war on your shoulders without any kind of backup plan.”

She had to stop for a second and blink back a few tears before her next statement. “He molded you to be a sacrifice. To just lay down and die at the hands of your enemy. And I can’t help believing that all of those earlier bits I mentioned were done specifically for that purpose. Done to make sure that you had zero attachments that would give you reason not to go through with it. And if you had actually died in the forest, and I wasn’t there to die with you…”

Her throat closed up, and she couldn’t finish the statement. Seeing that her emotions were starting to overflow, he gingerly placed his hand on her left cheek, trying to soothe her. She flashed a quick smile to him, and his action gave her enough strength to continue.

“I told you, after we read that chapter of Rita Skeeter’s book, that Dumbledore loved you, to which you retorted that he never did. You were right, and I was completely wrong. Someone that loved you would never have done even one of the things that he did to you. Someone that loved you would have wanted you to be happy and healthy.”

Before her next words, she placed her left hand on top of his hand on her cheek. Then, she quietly but firmly said, “Someone that loved you would do all they can to die for you. And if there was truly no other way, they would want to die with you. Because they could never imagine living in a world without you in it.”

She could see him begin to choke up at the reminder of just how far she was willing, and always had been willing, to go for him, even before she’d given any thought to deepening their relationship. Knowing that she was making his emotions run high when he needed all the composure that he could muster for talking to his parents, she dropped her hand before ending her rant with a simple summary.

“I’m deeply sad about the tragedies that happened to the rest of Dumbledore’s family. But I can’t muster any feeling for the man himself except hatred. Because he hurt the one that _I_ love and treasure.”

His eyes started to shine with tears before he dropped his hand from her cheek and turned his head away, looking towards the gravestone. She wondered if he was just reading the engraved words over and over, knowing that he was that which she treasured.

After a minute, Harry turned back to her and whispered with reverence, “Guess I can’t argue against that, can I?”

Hermione smiled affectionately at him and then responded, “Like I said, Harry. The fact that you can still feel anything other than hatred for Dumbledore, after everything you went through because of his choices, makes you better than I’ll ever be. And there’s no retort you could give that would make me think otherwise.”

Once again, he was at a loss for words at her adoration. His eyes glanced down at the ground for about five seconds. When he looked up again, he took a long, deep breath and simply said, “What do you say we go do what I actually wanted us to come here for?”

She silently nodded and linked her left arm into his right one again. With that, they began gradually walking past rows of gravestones. She heard Harry give a quiet but anxious sigh as they grew closer to their destination. And when they finally arrived, he took another deep breath, but a much shakier one this time. She squeezed his upper arm with her right hand, hoping she could give him support for what would come next.

They were finally standing at the grave of James and Lily Potter again, for the first time since last Christmas.

Hermione looked to Harry, seeing him rapidly blink for a few seconds and then take short and nervous breaths. She unlinked her arm from him before immediately wrapping it tightly around his waist and snuggling closer into his side. Then, she laid her head onto his right shoulder, hoping that her giving him as much contact as possible would comfort him even a small amount.

This was as much as she could do for Harry at the moment. Now, the only option was to remain at his side until he finally made a decision on what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all had to know this was coming, given the Christmastime setting and the PTSD aspects. So, all I can say now is, I hope the payoff of what comes next is good. Of course, it being officially Christmas Eve in the story, I couldn't resist also having a little family fluff to balance things out.
> 
> For all who have made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!


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